Surveillance footage shows a suspect attempting to disable a security camera. Image via U.S. Dept. of Justice

A crew of foreign nationals is accused of using disguises, blowtorches and cellphone jammers to target bank ATMs — including in Fresno and Clovis, according to a  federal grand jury indictment.

The 11 foreign nationals — hailing from Chile, Venezuela and Peru — are also accused of conspiracy to commit robbery at banks and ATMs throughout California, Oregon and Washington, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced in a news release Thursday.

Local cash losses approached $300,000.

According to court documents, the robberies occurred between May and October of this year. To avoid detection, the crew rented short-term vacation properties on Airbnb near their intended targets and used cars rented on the black market. Conspirators identified ATMs in vulnerable locations and then, using construction-crew disguises, blowtorches, and cellphone jammers, among other sophisticated tactics, broke into the ATMs and stole their cash. More than 29 banks and credit unions were targeted during the period of the conspiracy, with more than $4 million in cash taken.

 

Nine of those charged were arrested last week and two more were arrested in Washington on Wednesday. The charged defendants are Alex Moyano Morales, 24, of Chile; Maite Celis Silva, 26, of Chile; Erik Osorio Olivarez, 20, of Chile; Pablo Valdez Rodriguez, 36, a Chilean national; Rosa Bastias Serra, 42, of Chile; Camilo Sepulveda Guzman, 31, of Peru; Bassil Dacosta Frias, 34, of Venezuela; Camilo Alarcon Alarcon, 23, of Chile; Michelle Parada Munoz, 21, of Chile; Alvaro Lagos Mieres, 44, of Chile, and Humberto Jimenez Moreno, 45, of Chile. All defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit bank robbery. Moyano, Celis, Osorio, Valdez, Bastias, Sepulveda, Lagos, and Jimenez are additionally charged with bank robbery.

The suspects are affiliated with an unnamed organization referred to as a “South American theft group” in court documents. One of the suspects, Rosa Bastias Serra, is also sought by Interpol for possible extradition to Chile for alleged involvement in a 2015 theft resulting in death, manslaughter or murder, according to court documents.

Court documents allege that the defendants targeted banks and ATMs throughout the Eastern District of California (Fresno, Auburn, Merced, Clovis, Modesto, Roseville, Rocklin, Yuba City, and Fall River Mills) as well as in Oregon, Washington, and the Los Angeles area. 

It was after a bank larceny attempt in Merced on June 12 that the crew first came to the attention of the FBI in Fresno. It was then that investigators learned of a successful bank Wells Fargo ATM robbery in Fresno on May 5 that resulted in a cash loss of more than $80,000.

 

On June 21 a little after 10 p.m., Clovis police dispatchers received a call about suspicious people near an EECU ATM kiosk in Clovis. It was later determined that $150,000 to $200,000 was stolen from two ATMs there.

On Sept. 18, the defendants robbed a Wells Fargo in Modesto. Before that robbery, several co-conspirators scouted an adjoining business before returning during the night to cut a hole through the wall of the adjoining business to access the Wells Fargo ATMs. 

On Sept. 22., the defendants broke into and stole money from a Golden 1 Credit Union ATM in Merced where they wore similar disguises as in other thefts, according to court documents.

Investigators tracked the crew to several short-term rental properties in Oregon and Washington where the FBI executed search warrants and found hundreds of pounds of robbery tools, disguises, fake identification documents, and more than $100,000 in cash.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison for bank robbery and five years in prison for conspiracy to commit bank robbery.