OC man handed nearly 4-year prison sentence for role in scheme that ripped off $1 million from local surfers
An Orange County man was sentenced Wednesday, Jan. 28, to three years and eight months in prison for his role in a crime ring that targeted surfers, stealing their bank cards and phones to drain money from their accounts while they were catching waves at Southern California beaches.
Moundir Kamil, 56, pleaded guilty in September to one count each of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, attempted bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in the scheme that netted nearly $1 million between April 2021 and December 2022, according to federal prosecutors. He will also have to pay restitution of $979,772.84, the loss prosecutors allege he caused to financial institutions because of the scheme, and will be eligible for one year of supervised release.
Kamil’s co-defendants Jordan Adams and Jennifer Pruneda previously pleaded guilty to the same charges. Further information about their cases was sealed from public view.
Through tears, Kamil apologized to victims of the theft ring and his family in court.
“I blame myself daily,” he said, adding that he thinks often of his wife’s medical issues and how he can no longer serve as her caretaker. He also said he hoped his children can forgive him.
“That’s eating at me from the inside out,” Kamil wrote in a letter to Judge Fernando M. Olguin. “The hardship that my family is going through lies solely at my feet and nothing can change what I did, but I am full of remorse and regrets.”
Kamil’s attorney, John Hanusz, argued in a sentencing memo that his client should face a custodial sentence of 40 months. The sentence, Hanusz argued, would be just part of Kamil’s punishment, saying he’ll likely be deported to Morocco after serving his sentence despite living in the United States for 40 years.
Kamil’s sentence, his attorney argued, also will keep him from his family, including his wife, who said in a letter to the court that she is dealing with major health issues that doctors are working to diagnose, including an autoimmune disease that paralyzed her for a year and has caused neuropathy in her arms, legs, hands and feet. Her medical problems have made it impossible to drive and difficult to shower, she wrote.
As part of the scheme, a member of the crime ring would watch surfers park their cars and put their keys away before hitting the water in Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Huntington Beach, South Bay, Newport Beach, San Diego County and other parts of Southern California, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Another member would confirm once the surfer was on the water, so that their accomplice could steal the key, break into the car and empty the surfers’ bank accounts, investment holdings, crypto wallets and other money-holding programs, according to prosecutors.
When credit card companies inquired about possible fraudulent activity because of luxury purchases at stores like Apple and Chanel, the thieves would answer the stolen phones and give the OK for the charges, according to court documents.
The broader surf community learned of the scheme after the crime ring hit well-known surfer and filmmaker Logan Dulien.
Dulien was surfing in north Newport Beach when thieves stole his keys from the wheel well of his car, accessed his bank accounts through his phone and wiped out his savings, an estimated $150,000, he told the Orange County Register in April. They used his credit cards to buy Chanel bags and approved the purchases when fraud centers called.
Dulien lived near the beach and captured the thieves on a surveillance camera.
He showed the video to police and posted it online, where Dulien had amassed a large following, to warn fellow surfers. From up and down the coast, messages came in from surfers recounting similar stories, and a neighbor set up more surveillance cameras in hopes of catching the thieves, Dulien said.
Police made a break in the case when footage captured a license plate as a car was broken into, Dulien said, and Newport Beach Police made an arrest in late December. Three people were arrested in connection with Dulien’s case.
The thieves used stolen bank cards to buy expensive electronics and high-end luxury goods. Kamil then resold the items for cash, prosecutors said.
When he was arrested, Kamil had pictures of hundreds of stolen credit and debit cards, according to prosecutors.
Kamil was sentenced in 2015 to time served and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to federal bank fraud after prosecutors accused him of stealing a billionaire’s identity.
Federal prosecutors alleged Kamil opened a phony bank account in Irvine Company Chairman Donald Bren’s name in February 2010, drained $1.1 million from the account and obtained a nearly $1.4 million federal tax return check meant for Bren. After pleading guilty, he was also ordered to pay restitution of $1.1 million.
Prior to that case, Kamil was named the “Give Me More Bandit” for his role in a series a bank robberies in 2003.