LOS ANGELES – Several people have been charged with running a burglary tourism ring in the San Ferranando Valley.

The seven defendants were charged with multiple crimes, including wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and arranging transactions to evade federal financial reporting requirements.

According to an indictment, Juan Carlos Thola-Duran, 57, and his girlfriend Ana Maria Arriagada, 41, operated Driver Power Rentals (DPR), a car rental company based in Van Nuys.

According to the Justice Department, from at least January 2018 through July 2024, Thola-Duran directed accomplices – often members of a South American thief tourist group – to various parts of the United States to commit thefts, including shoplifting, burglaries of private homes and businesses, and the theft of victims’ credit and debit cards.

Thola-Duran, Arriagada and DPR provided the suspects with vehicles that they could use to commit these crimes.

To make the car rentals appear legitimate and to maintain anonymity, the DOJ said they required their co-conspirators to provide false identification when renting a vehicle for DPR records.

Thola-Duran and Arriagada instructed people to steal credit or debit cards and then immediately visit stores like Target, Best Buy or The Home Depot to maximize the value of the stolen cards by purchasing electronics, gift cards, designer handbags and other high-end luxury items before the stolen cards could be canceled or suspended.

Thola-Duran then had the thieves deliver the stolen goods to DPR employees or mail them to other co-conspirators. Other defendants then picked up the packages and delivered them to Thola-Duran and other co-conspirators.

“Thola-Duran then acted as a fence, purchasing the goods – at a fraction of their retail value – and paying the thieves a percentage of the goods’ value. He then sold the stolen goods to other buyers over the course of the conspiracy for approximately $5.5 million, including approximately $5.1 million transferred to various bank accounts controlled by the co-conspirators,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

The defendants are accused of using the money to purchase real estate and horses.

The indictment further alleges that from May 2020 to June 2021, Thola-Duran, Arriagada and others conspired to fraudulently obtain $274,998 in COVID-19 business relief loans.

The investigation, which involved multiple agencies, including the LAPD, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI, lasted several years.

“Since 2019, we have arrested over 130 suspects responsible for committing these crimes, the vast majority of whom used vehicles from Driver Power Rentals,” said Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff.

“They spy on our residents to see when they go to work, when they go to bed and how many people live in the house,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer.

If convicted, the defendants would face a maximum sentence of 20 years in a federal prison for each count related to wire fraud and money laundering, up to 10 years in a federal prison for each count related to structuring, and up to five years in a federal prison for conspiracy to transport stolen goods interstate.