Latest news with #criminal investigation
CBS News
08-08-2025
- CBS News
Inside two alleged luxury auto theft rings in North Texas: Suspects, Stolen Cars, Unprosecuted Leads
A search warrant reveals that some suspects from two North Texas auto theft cases — estimated at a combined value of $4 million — were connected. On paper, it has not evolved into a criminal charge. Stephen Howell has a hard act to follow. His father, Dave Howell, worked at the Plano Police Department for 44 years and was the founding detective for the department's auto theft division. His son, Stephen, is now the detective chasing down suspected car thieves. "Yeah, well, he would say that," Howell said. Stephen Howell is just as busy as his father, if not busier, especially with luxury car and truck rings making their way to his desk. In June, a man had his Rolls-Royce Spectre stolen in the Legacy West area. A search warrant obtained by CBS News Texas reveals the suspects took advantage of an unmanned valet stand. Investigators said the alleged thieves grabbed the keys and drove away. The car would not raise attention in an area where luxury vehicles are standard. Even the getaway vehicles investigators connected to the crime—a white 2025 Mercedes S63 AMG—only caught the attention of a multi-agency law enforcement group, including the FBI. The arrest document said the FBI was able to trace the vehicle back to an Instagram account connected to fugitive Oscar Ivan Valdez Garcia. Several Texas law enforcement jurisdictions wanted Garcia to face felony warrants for crimes including aggravated assault, burglary, vehicle theft, and robbery. The Plano Police Department said Garcia, Salvador Hernandez, and Miguel Angel Hernandez were arrested on charges of theft of property over $300,000, a first-degree felony. The three were apprehended after investigators executed search warrants at two houses in Dallas: 8315 and 8447 Alto Garden Drive. Officers said among the vehicles recovered were a Rolls-Royce Spectre, Rolls-Royce Cullinan, Cadillac Escalade-V, Maserati Levante, and an Audi RS7. Officers estimated the value at $1.5 million. Investigators said in the documents that they had been conducting surveillance on the homes and monitoring social media activity. Police said Garcia's account contained photos, videos, and messages showing high-end vehicles (including a white Mercedes-Benz S63 and a Rolls-Royce Spectre), firearms, body armor, large amounts of U.S. currency, conversations about drug trafficking and vehicle sales, and attempts to get a social media site to remove a fugitive post. "They're taking the vehicles via what's called the key programmer," Howell said. "It's used to trick the vehicle into thinking that the programmer is a key for the vehicle, which allows them to manipulate the push start and start the vehicle with the push start." The search document also reveals that the houses were being rented to the suspects by a family Howell is familiar with. Jacob Ruiz is a suspect in a 2023 stolen truck case. The detective is still waiting to see the case through the legal system. "Everybody knows one another. In this case, the individuals from the first case were leasing out the locations to the individuals from the second case," Howell said. According to the detective, Ruiz, David Villegas, Jesus Daniel Perez Rodriguez, and Stive Montes Miguel were working in concert in alleged schemes to steal trucks—lots of them. "The total value of the 49 vehicles was roughly $2.5 million," Howell said."The stealers would roughly get about five thousand dollars a car. The sellers would sell it for about 30-ish per truck." Howell said part of the group would execute the thefts. Miguel, he said, was responsible for moving the stolen merchandise. The trucks, like the vehicles from 2025, get fake titles and VINs, according to the detective. Then, he said, unsuspecting customers would buy them only to find out the hard truth at the Texas DPS. "I can tell you without a doubt that there are more victims and there are other vehicles that were at those residences that were not there on the day that we executed the search warrants," Howell said. Torres is the only one out of the group serving time for the 2023 case. The rest are awaiting adjudication or face new allegations. Investigators have not proven that the two cases are related beyond the location where officers allegedly found stolen vehicles, and four suspects with auto theft charges in two separate cases. In any of the cases, some victims learn of the recovery. "I will tell you that most people don't want their car back after someone else has been in it," Howell said. "They feel victimized, and they feel as if the fact that the suspect got into that vehicle has traumatized them so that they don't want the vehicle back."
France 24
17-07-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Fraud probe opened into Mbappe payments to police officers
The probe comes after a tip-off from the French finance ministry's anti-money laundering unit, which reported "unusual financial transactions" benefitting the five police officers. "Investigations, which are by their very nature complex in the case of financial transactions, are underway in order to establish whether any criminal offences have been committed," the public prosecutor's office said. French investigative weekly Le Canard Enchaine on Wednesday reported that the France national team captain's money was used to "pay under the table for private services", to the tune of 180,300 euros ($209,000). The Real Madrid striker's entourage issued a statement saying "everything was done in compliance with the rules". It added that Mbappe had "always chosen to donate in full his bonuses" for playing for France at international level. "It's what he did after the 2022 World Cup, with complete transparency," the statement continued, saying the money went to charitable organisations and security personnel that accompanied the team.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Toronto nearly lost $2.5M in electricity fraud. City committee suggests police should investigate
Toronto's close call with a $2.5-million electricity fraud scheme will be headed to city council after a motion passed at the audit committee on Friday. The committee also recommended council to loop in the Toronto Police Service Board and police chief to consider if the case meets the threshold for a criminal investigation. Last month, the auditor general's office found that in 2019, 14 city-owned properties' electricity accounts were switched to two different third-party energy retailers — instead of Toronto Hydro — without the city's knowledge. The auditor general's office added in its report that the identities of retired employees with the city's corporate real estate management (CREM) department were fraudulently used to sign contracts. Auditor general Tara Anderson and CREM executive director Patrick Matozzo told the audit committee that while controls are now in place to detect such frauds, it's important that other departments are made aware of the potential risks. "There's always the risk of identities being stolen and that fraud could be committed," said Anderson. "But having good controls in place will help to detect and investigations like this help to know that there's consequences." The audit committee is recommending that council request the city manager forward the investigation to other departments to encourage diligent invoice reviews and approvals, especially when it comes to electricity invoices. The auditor general's investigation began in 2020, but was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed in 2024. Retired employees' credentials fraudulently used The issue first raised flags when CREM identified "unusual" invoices during a routine account review in the fall of 2019 and saw the accounts had been switched in July of that year. The investigation found that consulting firm owners seemed to be involved in establishing the contracts with third-party retailers, fraudulently using retired city employees' identifications. The auditor general told the committee there was no evidence the retired employees had any involvement. The investigation even consulted a hand-writing expert to be certain, she report said there was not enough evidence to determine if other city employees were involved. The contracts with the third-party retailers were valued at $4.2 million, which is $2.5 million higher than what the city would pay with Toronto Hydro, the report said. The city was able to recover the $250,000 that was paid to the energy retailers between the time the contracts began and were cancelled. The auditor general's report said the matter has been referred to Toronto police, which said earlier this week that a review was underway. The audit committee's recommendation to elevate the case to the police board was made to escalate the consideration for a police investigation. Controls in place to avoid future fraud: CREM Patrick Matozzo, the executive director for CREM, said the department now has a team to watch out for these sorts of issues. "We can't control fraud that happens outside our control processes. But we have processes all the way through to ensure that if something like that were to happen, we'd actually catch it," he said. Matozzo said Toronto Hydro is also working with them to watch out for any future contract changes.
CBC
11-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
Toronto nearly lost $2.5M in electricity fraud. City committee suggests police should investigate
Social Sharing Toronto's close call with a $2.5-million electricity fraud scheme will be headed to city council after a motion passed at the audit committee on Friday. The committee also recommended council to loop in the Toronto Police Service Board and police chief to consider if the case meets the threshold for a criminal investigation. Last month, the auditor general's office found that in 2019, 14 city-owned properties' electricity accounts were switched to two different third-party energy retailers — instead of Toronto Hydro — without the city's knowledge. The auditor general's office added in its report that the identities of retired employees with the city's corporate real estate management (CREM) department were fraudulently used to sign contracts. Auditor general Tara Anderson and CREM executive director Patrick Matozzo told the audit committee that while controls are now in place to detect such frauds, it's important that other departments are made aware of the potential risks. "There's always the risk of identities being stolen and that fraud could be committed," said Anderson. "But having good controls in place will help to detect and investigations like this help to know that there's consequences." The audit committee is recommending that council request the city manager forward the investigation to other departments to encourage diligent invoice reviews and approvals, especially when it comes to electricity invoices. The auditor general's investigation began in 2020, but was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed in 2024. Retired employees' credentials fraudulently used The issue first raised flags when CREM identified "unusual" invoices during a routine account review in the fall of 2019 and saw the accounts had been switched in July of that year. The investigation found that consulting firm owners seemed to be involved in establishing the contracts with third-party retailers, fraudulently using retired city employees' identifications. The auditor general told the committee there was no evidence the retired employees had any involvement. The investigation even consulted a hand-writing expert to be certain, she said. WATCH | How can you protect yourself against fraud? How can you protect yourself against fraud? 6 months ago Duration 2:22 While Toronto police say fraud is on the rise, data shows investigators are closing fewer cases over time. CBC's Tyler Cheese spoke with experts about what you can do to protect yourself. The report said there was not enough evidence to determine if other city employees were involved. The contracts with the third-party retailers were valued at $4.2 million, which is $2.5 million higher than what the city would pay with Toronto Hydro, the report said. The city was able to recover the $250,000 that was paid to the energy retailers between the time the contracts began and were cancelled. The auditor general's report said the matter has been referred to Toronto police, which said earlier this week that a review was underway. The audit committee's recommendation to elevate the case to the police board was made to escalate the consideration for a police investigation. Controls in place to avoid future fraud: CREM Patrick Matozzo, the executive director for CREM, said the department now has a team to watch out for these sorts of issues. "We can't control fraud that happens outside our control processes. But we have processes all the way through to ensure that if something like that were to happen, we'd actually catch it," he said. Matozzo said Toronto Hydro is also working with them to watch out for any future contract changes.
