A sentencing hearing for a convicted bank robber who ran a nearly $1 million fraud scheme targeting surfers at Southern California beaches was postponed Thursday until next week due to a power outage at the Los Angeles federal courthouse.
Moundir Kamil, 56, of Orange County, pleaded guilty in September to one federal count each of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, attempted bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Two co-defendants pleaded guilty to the same charges.
The hearing was scheduled for Wednesday.
According to court documents and media reports, a member of the crime ring would watch surfers in Malibu, Manhattan Beach, San Diego County and elsewhere stash their car keys before they paddled out. An accomplice on the beach would confirm that the surfer had entered the water, and give the all-clear to steal the key and break into the car.
Once the thieves had a wallet and phone, they handed the items to ring mastermind Kamil, who was able to hack facial recognition software and gain access to the phone’s apps, according to federal prosecutors.
While surfers were locked out of their cars, the thieves would empty bank accounts, investment holdings, crypto wallets and other money holding programs. In an especially devious twist, when credit card companies called to check if there was fraudulent activity stemming from a purchase at stores like Chanel or the Apple Store, the thieves — who had possession of the phone — would simply answer and approve the charges, documents show.
Stolen bank cards were used to purchase high-end luxury goods and expensive electronics, which Kamil would resell for cash during the course of the scheme which operated from April 2021 through December 2022, prosecutors said.
Co-defendants Jordan Adams and Jennifer Pruneda previously pleaded guilty to the same charges as Kamil, but subsequent information in their cases is sealed from public view.