Share and Follow
A man from California has confessed to orchestrating a nationwide “crime tourism” operation, facilitating fraudulent car rentals that enabled international thieves to pilfer approximately $24 million in high-end merchandise.
Juan Carlos “Pacero” Thola-Duran, aged 59, admitted guilt to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, receiving and transporting stolen goods across state lines, and engaging in money laundering. He also confessed to structuring financial transactions to evade federal reporting mandates, as confirmed by the U.S. Department of Justice in federal court on Monday.
Prosecutors disclosed that Thola-Duran teamed up with his then-girlfriend, Ana Maria Arriagada, to establish a fake car rental business based in Van Nuys, named Driver Power Rentals (DPR).
Federal authorities noted that Arriagada was officially registered as the owner of this sham company. She had already pled guilty to four felony charges related to the operation last year, according to the DOJ.
The U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California reported that multiple individuals were apprehended for their suspected roles in this Los Angeles-centered “crime tourism” network.
Operating under the guise of the pair’s falsified business, Thola-Duran directed associates – who were often members of crime tourism theft groups from South America – to travel throughout the United States to “commit thefts, including shoplifting goods from stores, burglarizing residences and commercial businesses, and stealing victims’ credit cards and debit cards,” prosecutors said.
Thola-Duran and Arriagada then provided vehicles licensed under DPR to the various co-conspirators so they could travel to and from the burglaries, while instructing them to use fake identities to make the rental agreements look legitimate.
“Thola-Duran and Arriagada directed the thief co-conspirators who stole credit or debit cards to immediately go to stores such as Target, Best Buy, The Home Depot and others to max out the stolen cards by purchasing electronics, gift cards, designer purses and other high-end luxury goods before the stolen cards could be frozen or cancelled,” prosecutors said.
A surveillance image shared by Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer shows a pair of masked thieves breaking into a California home. Authorities say the thieves in this image were tied to Juan Carlos “Pacero” Thola-Duran’s “crime tourism” ring operating out of Van Nuys. (Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer)
The thieves would later be instructed to deliver or mail the items to co-conspirators, who would then bring them to Thola-Duran.
Prosecutors said Thola-Duran would act as a “fence” to purchase the items for a discounted rate and pay the thieves a portion of the sales.
The items were then sold to other buyers, with Thola-Duran raking in at least $5,758,655 from various fences, including approximately $5.2 million from the bank accounts of a Van Nuys electronics exporter.
Juan Carlos Thola-Duran, 57, and his girlfriend, Ana Maria Arriagada, 41, operated Driver Power Rentals (DPR) in Los Angeles, California. (FOX 11)
Additionally, Thola-Duran, Arriagada and others worked together to fraudulently obtain roughly $250,000 in COVID-19 business relief loans, authorities said.
Thola-Duran and his accomplices used the money to purchase various assets, including real estate and horses, according to prosecutors.
The thieves also worked to only withdraw money from their accounts in $10,000 increments, in an effort to prevent banks from reporting the amounts – as required by federal law.
Prosecutors revealed Thola-Duran’s scheme impacted at least 37 victims and resulted in roughly $23.9 million in losses.
Two alleged co-defendants, Patricia Enderton, 45, and Federico Jorge Triebel IV, 79, pleaded not guilty in the case and are set to go to trial later this year.
Thola-Duran faces the possibility of up to 55 years in federal prison when he appears for sentencing in the coming months, the DOJ said.
His guilty plea is the fourth to be secured by federal prosecutors in this case, with seven individuals facing charges stemming from the alleged crime tourism ring.
“Since 2019, we have arrested over 130 suspects responsible for perpetrating these crimes, with the vast majority using cars supplied by Driver Power Rentals,” Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said in a previous press release.
“These criminals were running a burglary operation with a sophistication that rivals Amazon,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer previously said in a statement about these crime rings. “Instead of dispatching delivery drivers, they were dispatching trained thieves throughout Southern California to steal from what should be where we are safest — our homes.”
The DOJ did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.