Californians plead guilty in $600 million nationwide catalytic converter theft scheme

AP via SF Gate ^ | 10/17/2023 | AP Staff

[NohSpinZone]

Three members of a California family pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy for their role in a ring that shipped $600 million worth of stolen catalytic converters from California to New Jersey, federal prosecutors said.

Brothers Tou Sue Vang, 32, and Andrew Vang, 28, along with their mother, Monica Moua, 58, were part of “a national network of thieves, dealers, and processors” who provided the stolen auto anti-smog devices to a metal refinery for more than $600 million, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office.

Twenty-one people from California and New Jersey have been charged in the case, prosecutors said. The three Sacramento family members pleaded guilty to conspiring to transport the devices in return for more than $38 million.

Tou Sue Vang also pleaded guilty to 39 charges related to money laundering, prosecutors said.

Catalytic converters are easily stolen and contain precious metals including platinum.

[NohSpinZone]

My NextDoor feeds used to be polluted with one neighbor after another reporting these thefts. Things have slowed down some and I guess this had something to do with that. A couple of the perps:

[1Old Pro]

I got kicked off NextDoor for calling out the lefties posting on it.

[Zuriel]

Peeps got ta eat! Peeps got ta eat!

(or something like that)

[Zathras]

Sum Ting Wong

[Greenpees]

Me too!! Kicked off for calling a leftist and “Activist” - That’s it, nothing more. They were setting up a political meeting an bashing Trump.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

I don’t think we’ve opened a NextDoor post for years. I just delete them as they show up.

[catnipman]

“I got kicked off NextDoor for calling out the lefties posting on it.”

i stupidly signed up for some reason or another and have spent weeks trying to stop spam mails after supposedly canceling the account ... looks like you found an elegant solution ...

[US_MilitaryRules]

I just got off another ND jail term! lol 31 days! lol

[Disambiguator]

I got suspended on Facebook/Meta for doing nothing. I signed up to put something for sale on Marketplace (a camp trailer), had zero posts or content other than that, and one day tried to log in to find my account was suspended. As soon as I mashed the button to log a complaint about it, my account was turned back on. WTF?

[dragnet2]

More foreign nationals committing fraud?

What a shocker!

[goodnesswins]

My hub signed up for ND...we just monitor it

[FlingWingFlyer]

This was why the damn liberal bass turds demanded we be forced into have a catalytic converter on our cars in the first place. The bass turds new stealing them would be a $600 million dollar industry.

[webheart]

NextDoor is funny a lot of the time. People say are a victim of a crime and someone always comments that they should file a police report. In our area it’s always the same woman. The person said they had something stolen from their patio and they called the police and everything and the first comment says they should file a police report. Even after they say they filed a police report. Never mind that filing a police report is nothing more than a formality because the police can’t do anything about anything. We have groups of teens tearing up a 7-11 and the police ask for help identifying suspects who are always wearing masks and hoodies.

[woodbutcher1963]

I deal with a salvage company in Idaho that processes Catalytic converters. They have a machine that cuts them up and separates the components. It also has four vacuums attached to suck up all the valuable bits.

He told me when the 55 gallon drum is full of stuff it is worth over $12K. He also told me the warehouse had 24/7 monitored security.

I asked which auto has the most valuable CC. He stated it was the Lincoln Navigator or Ford Expedition because it actually has two. They are worth $650. Pretty good work for 30 seconds with as sawsall.