Eleven foreign nationals were indicted by a federal grand jury in Fresno on Thursday for robbing banks and ATMs throughout the west coast.
The suspects have been charged with bank robbery and conspiracy to commit bank robbery for crimes in California, Oregon and Washington.
The big picture: Court documents state that the suspects are part of an ongoing conspiracy to steal money from financial institutions between May and October.
- The suspects rented short-term vacation properties near their intended targets and used cars rented on the black market.
- They identified ATMs in vulnerable locations and disguised as construction workers in an attempt to hide their crimes. They used blowtorches, cell phone jammers and other tactics to break into ATMs.
- Over $4 million in cash was stolen from over 29 banks and credit unions.
Go deeper: Nine of the 11 foreign nationals were arrested last week, with the other two arrested in Washington on Wednesday.
- The suspects range in age from 20-45 and come from Chile, Peru and Venezuela.
- Central Valley banks that were targeted are located in Fresno, Clovis, Merced and Modesto.
Driving the news: One of the robberies took place on Sep. 18, when the defendants robbed a Wells Fargo in Modesto by cutting a hole through the wall of an adjoining business to access the ATMs.
- Four days later they stole money from a Golden 1 Credit Union ATM while wearing construction equipment.
- On Sep. 28, the defendants used blowtorches, saws and other power tools to break into Tri Counties Bank in Fall River Mills in Shasta County.
- Investigators tracked the foreign nationals to several short-term rental properties in Oregon and Washington. The FBI executed search warrants and found hundreds of pounds of robbery tools, disguise, fake identification documents and over $100,000 in cash.
What we’re watching: The defendants face a maximum of 20 years in prison for bank robbery and five years in prison for conspiracy to commit bank robbery, if convicted.
