A federal grand jury in central California indicted a group of 11 foreign nationals suspected of stealing millions in cash from ATMs and banks in a six-month crime spree that covered California, Oregon, and Washington, federal prosecutors in Sacramento said on Oct. 31.
U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert said the suspects, mostly from Chile, were part of an ongoing conspiracy to break into and steal money from financial institutions.
They rented short-term vacation homes between May and October and used black-market rental cars during the crime spree, according to Talbert’s office.
In the course of the robberies, the alleged perpetrators wore construction clothing to disguise themselves as they used blowtorches, cell phone jammers, and other sophisticated tactics to break into ATMs and steal cash, according to federal and local law enforcement….