Oct 18, 2023
Feds Bust INSANE $600 Million Catalytic Converter Theft Ring
Catalytic converters contain precious metals that have recently skyrocketed in value
- 14 minutes
Three members of a California
family have pleaded guilty
to their roles in operating
a $600 million nationwide
catalytic converter theft ring
over the past three years.
[00:00:15]
Now, before we get into the details
of this case, here's a video
explaining the catalytic converter
theft situation in the country and
why it's become more and more common.
>> Speaker 2: This surveillance video
showing thieves stealing nine catalytic
[00:00:31]
converters from school buses in New Jersey
at this RV storage facility near Dallas.
They moved with breathtaking efficiency.
>> I guess they look at as a shopping
mall of catalytic converters.
>> Speaker 2: The converters are embedded
in the exhaust systems of most cars and
trucks, making auto
emissions less harmful.
[00:00:47]
They contain precious metals including
rhodium, palladium, and platinum,
whose value has skyrocketed
in recent years.
>> Speaker 1: So the catalytic converter
itself is not the valuable item,
it's the precious metals inside
the catalytic converters,
[00:01:03]
which as you heard in that video,
include palladium, platinum and rhodium.
These metals can be more valuable than
an ounce of gold, which is insane.
And the price for a stolen catalytic
converter can vary based on the model and
the location in which
the thieves are selling them.
[00:01:21]
But the parts generally cost
somewhere between $1000 to $3,000.
So if you've been victimized with
a catalytic converter theft and
you have to replace it,
if your insurance doesn't cover it,
you're gonna have to pay
a nice chunk of change.
[00:01:37]
And depending on what kind
of model vehicle you have,
there could be a long wait because there
are backorders for catalytic converters.
Luckily though, there has been a
nationwide crackdown on these crime rings,
and I love to hear it.
And I love to hear that some of these
individuals who have been caught
[00:01:54]
have pleaded guilty.
So in October and November of 2022,
federal, state, and local law enforcement
partners from across the United States
executed a nationwide coordinated
takedown of leaders and associates
of a national network of thieves,
[00:02:10]
dealers, and processors for their
roles in conspiracies involving stolen
catalytic converters sold to a metal
refinery for over $600 million.
Now, nine of those 21 defendants,
unsurprisingly, if you ask me,
were charged in the eastern
district of California.
[00:02:29]
Why do I say it's unsurprising?
Because at some point,
California just decided to let
criminals do whatever they want.
And people decided,
it's a great opportunity to
make money by being thieves.
And that's exactly what happened here.
Brothers Tou Sue Vang,
32 years old, and Andrew Vang,
[00:02:45]
28 years old, and
their mother, Monica Moua, 58,
all pleaded guilty to conspiring to
transport stolen catalytic converters
from California to New Jersey in return
for over 38 million in wired payments.
[00:03:01]
Tou Sue Vang also pleaded guilty to
an additional 39 charges related to
money laundering.
Also charged in the 2022
indictment were six co-defendants,
all of New Jersey, all from New Jersey,
[00:03:16]
who operated DG Auto in multiple
locations in New Jersey.
According to court documents,
they knowingly purchased stolen catalytic
converters and
through a de-canning process,
extracted the precious metal
powders from the catalytic core.
[00:03:32]
So here's some more on the co-defendants,
which included several other individuals.
If you're wondering what kind of lifestyle
they were living as they were engaging
in these thefts, maybe they were just down
on their luck, maybe they had no choice.
[00:03:48]
They needed to feed their families, so
they stole from their neighbors and
the people around them.
Maybe that's the case, except,
no, that wasn't the case.
>> Speaker 1: Justice department says
they've taken down a nationwide crime ring
involving the theft of
catalytic converters.
[00:04:03]
>> Speaker 3: This is a national
takedown involving the FBI,
the IRS, homeland security raids,
and arrests in eight states.
21 arrests, all told, as you said,
forfeitures in the neighborhood
of half a billion dollars.
And this is a distribution ring, these
people are accused of reselling catalytic
[00:04:23]
converters they knew were stolen and
they made a lot of money.
So the feds have seized luxury cars.
One of these defendants actually has an
Instagram account with a picture wearing
a necklace with a catalytic
converter on it.
>> Speaker 2: The defendants charged
today are accused of buying the stolen
[00:04:40]
converters where they go for
$1,000 on the black market.
One of the accused, Naveen Khana,
posted a photo of a catalytic
converter necklace with a winking
face emoji on social media.
Authorities raided his $1.7
million New Jersey home.
[00:04:57]
>> Speaker 1: People living in $1.7
million New Jersey homes really down
on their luck,
they need to feed their children Waz.
So I don't know if it makes sense
to prosecute this poor guy,
but I personally love that
he was prosecuted, and
I love that some of these individuals
have already pleaded guilty.
[00:05:13]
What are your thoughts?
>> Speaker 4: Man so many thoughts
go through my mind, honestly,
because the sort of carjacking,
car thefts, car burglarizing,
those crimes have shot way
the hell up in California.
[00:05:31]
And somebody like me who grew up in
the 90s where your parents would get out
the car and take the face of their
freaking car stereo out every single time
because they was afraid a crackhead
would steal it, I was kind of baffled,
honestly, Anna thinking,
what are these people taking?
[00:05:49]
Oftentimes they're taking people's laptops
and things like that out of the cars.
And I guess you could sell that for
a small, little profit, but
this is real, actual money.
The thought being like,
it's guys that are down in their luck and
[00:06:05]
jacking all of these cars and doing this.
This is a multimillion dollar, tens and
hundreds of million dollar crime ring.
And honestly, if I were to guess,
I would venture to guess that that's
why this stuff is getting prosecuted.
This is very splashy.
[00:06:21]
We know the feds, we know the DOJ,
they love a money laundering.
They love when they could tell people,
this involved this and that.
This is a really splashy case.
So I'm not surprised that federal
resources went into stopping it.
I don't know if this is
necessarily a recipe for
[00:06:39]
stopping the rest of the car
crimes that happen in the state.
>> Speaker 1: That's a great point,
and I love that you mentioned that.
It's perfect, Segue Way to the second part
of the story that I wanna share with you
all, because there are two states
that I think we should compare.
There's California, which to
California's credit, they're finally
[00:06:58]
starting to take the situation seriously
and they're signing off on certain
legislation that has some consequences to
deter these catalytic converter thefts.
But I wanna compare what
California is doing and
[00:07:13]
failing at to what Hawaii has done and
has succeeded in.
So a new report based
on insurance claims or
insurance claim data released by
the National Insurance Crime Bureau shows
a surge in catalytic converter
thefts across the country.
[00:07:29]
In total, the nation experienced more than
64,000 catalytic converter thefts in 2022.
Leading the country are California and
Texas,
which experienced more than 32,000
catalytic converter thefts last year.
So I wanna show you this graph
that kind of shows the top states
[00:07:47]
where this crime occurs.
California is by far number
one with far more catalytic
converter thefts than Texas.
But California didn't really take
this seriously until recently, okay?
[00:08:02]
So I'm gonna fast forward to that.
So recently,
Governor Gavin Newsome signed a bill into
law targeting the crime,
it's assembly bill 641.
It was proposed by assemblyman
Vince Fong from Bakersfield, and
[00:08:18]
it's the latest attempt by the state
legislature to curb mounting cases
of catalytic converter thefts.
So here's what it'll do, okay?
It will make it a misdemeanor,
not a felony.
Remember, that a misdemeanor for
a person to have six or
[00:08:35]
more used converters if they are not
a licensed automobile dismantler.
Those with a vetted purpose for
processing catalytic converters will
remain exempt from this law, okay?
But remember,
if you're caught with six and
[00:08:51]
you really have no reason to have six,
you might be charged with a misdemeanor.
The bill also allows law enforcement to
charge thieves with illegal automobile
dismantling in the event they are caught
with nine or more stolen converters.
[00:09:07]
Fines for
this can go up to $1,000 per offense.
And look, there were three other bills
that passed in California last year as
well, but I would venture to say
that they're nothing burgers.
For instance, AB1653 allows
the California highway patrol's regional
[00:09:23]
property crimes task force
to provide resources and
assist local law enforcement in
investigating catalytic converter thefts.
SB1087 limits who can legally
sell catalytic converters.
AB1740 requires metal recyclers
to maintain documentation on
[00:09:39]
the catalytic converters they
purchased by recording the year make,
model, and vehicle ID number or VIN.
Similar laws, though,
have passed in Hawaii,
but I think it's unfair to say similar
because their laws actually have teeth.
[00:09:54]
Statistics from the Honolulu
police department are eye opening.
As of 2023,
there have been 119 reports of the theft.
But at this time the year before,
there were 1602 and
[00:10:10]
2008 reported in 2021.
Do you get what I'm saying here?
So Hawaii passed laws, their laws have
more teeth, and they're clearly working.
You see it in the numbers.
And what do I mean by saying
that they have more teeth?
[00:10:27]
Well, first of all, their laws would
charge someone caught with stolen
catalytic converters with a felony.
A misdemeanor is nothing,
let's keep it real.
A lot of people get charged with all
sorts of misdemeanors in this state, and
in the end it'll get pled down to nothing.
[00:10:45]
So in Hawaii, they changed the law and
made it a crime,
a felony compared to a misdemeanor,
this happened back in June of 2022.
And also,
anyone selling the part had to show ID,
sign a form saying the part wasn't stolen,
among other requirements.
[00:11:02]
So basically making it less profitable
to steal the catalytic converters and
then sell them for
the precious materials within them.
I just think we need to stop kowtowing
to people who happen to be activists,
[00:11:19]
who happen to not know what
they're talking about and
happen to do nothing other than empower
criminal crime rings that are victimizing
entire communities with these thefts.
Which, look, if you're a working
class American living in
an incredibly expensive state
like California, first of all,
[00:11:37]
even if you haven't been a victim of
that theft, your insurance premiums
have already gone up as a result
of the catalytic converter thefts.
So you're paying for it anyway and
subsidizing the criminality.
But aside from that, if you have been
victimized, I mean, we're talking about
[00:11:52]
a situation in which a lot of Americans
can't even afford a $400 emergency.
Now imagine having to afford
a one to $3,000 emergency.
It is disastrous for people.
And it's about time that our elected
lawmakers on a state level do the right
[00:12:10]
thing and
protect people from these types of crimes.
Any final words Waz?
>> Yeah, I completely agree with that.
I think on the state level, that's
about as much as you could do, right?
Because at the end of the day, the state
police, let alone local law enforcement,
[00:12:30]
don't have the resources to chase
a crime from California to New Jersey.
That's something the feds have to do,
and I don't see them doing much else.
And it'd be nice if they were actually
chipping in and cracking down on these
[00:12:45]
crimes 100% because they affect
everyday citizens and the like.
And the funny thing I will say about this,
Anna, is that I was listening to
Chesa Boudin give an interview a few weeks
ago, and it was a lot of ass covering,
[00:13:01]
him trying to explain why things didn't
work out for himself in California.
And he talked about the sort of dummy
cars that they set up in San Francisco
where they would put laptops and
other goods and electronics in there.
[00:13:19]
They would allow them to be stolen, and
basically they would track these
things to international places.
Essentially, this isn't some
Penny Annie crimes, right?
Even if these punk thieves came and
jacked it, whoever's sending them or
hiring them are part of
some international ring.
[00:13:37]
I'm just like, Chesa,
this does nothing for nobody.
Your little San Francisco situation can't
track people to, like you can't tell
people like, this is what you found out
and this is what you plan on doing.
You have no jurisdiction in Vietnam.
[00:13:52]
But you know who can bring pressure
to bear on criminals in Vietnam?
The American government can,
they've done it all over the freaking
world whenever they felt like it.
Whether it be places like
the Middle East with the heroin trade or
South America with the cocaine trade.
[00:14:08]
They do this kind of
stuff stuff all the time.
So to me, yeah, this kind of does
have to become a federal issue.
Do something, do your jobs.
>> Speaker 1: Yes, and it appears that's
what's happening, and I'm happy to see it.
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