LOS ANGELES – Seven defendants face federal criminal charges in an indictment alleging a Santa Clarita Valley man orchestrated a “crime tourism” group that targeted stores and private homes, then laundered millions of dollars in illicit proceeds, officials announced Wednesday. The indictment, unsealed in Los Angeles federal court, charges the defendants — six of whom were arrested Wednesday in a series of raids in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties — with multiple felony offenses, including wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and structuring transactions to avoid financial reporting requirements. “These criminals were running a burglary operation with a sophistication that rivals Amazon and 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,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement.
Crime tourism groups consist of criminals from foreign countries who come to a city and engage in burglaries, shoplifting and other crimes, federal prosecutors said. Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy .
At a downtown news conference announcing the indictment and arrests, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she’s been aware of groups of such thieves operating throughout the city. “Make no mistake, this is not the end of.