A man charged with stealing luxury vehicles from Miami Beach is now part of an international car theft ring investigation by the Department of Homeland Security. Victims are now speaking out about how they fell victim to the intricate plan targeting automobile shipping companies.
Speaking with 7News, Robert Falaguerra described how criminals stole his Range Rover earlier this summer.
“They have a history of getting extremely nice cars, taking advantage of both technology and, like I said, gaps in the system to get their hands on them,” he stated.
Surveillance video from Falaguerra’s South of Fifth condo in South Beach on June 29 shows his Range Rover put into the back of a car transport truck as it drives away.
“The transportation company that I contracted with was fraudulent,” he stated.
The luxurious SUV was intended to travel to Chicago, but it never arrived.
“Both the dispatch for the transportation company and the driver stopped corresponding with me,” Falaguerra claimed.
Falaguerra isn’t the only one who discovered that his expensive ride did not arrive at its destination.
A woman who did not want to be identified told 7News that her dream Porsche was taken while it was being sent to Colorado from her condo near Mid-Beach.
“And I knew that I would never see it again,” she replied.
Authorities claim this type of ploy is becoming more common: fraudsters target vehicle transport businesses and brokers.
“Most people are aware that such a theft ring exists. “You don’t expect it to happen to you,” Falaguerra explained.
Using faked work orders, criminals gain unauthorized access to transportation dispatch sites and reroute vehicles to different locations, where they are then stolen. Often, these situations occur without the knowledge of the delivery drivers.
“There’s no question that they’re sophisticated. Falaguerra explained that they can exploit system flaws.
The theft of the Porsche and Falaguerra’s Range Rover led to Hakam Shahin’s arrest on July 10. The 30-year-old from Oakland Park was originally arrested in Broward in connection with another stolen vehicle.
Neither the Porsche nor the Range Rover were retrieved.
Falaguerra fears his Range Rover is already gone.
“Shipped out of the country on a container ship or it’s been shipped up to New York or somewhere like that,” he replied. “There were things that I clearly missed, that the valet clearly missed.”
A new federal arrest order obtained for Shahin on Monday indicates that Falaguerra is on the right track.
According to the warrant, Shahin, who had since bonded out of jail, was arrested again by US Marshals on Friday. He is suspected of arranging to smuggle stolen vehicles from Newark, New Jersey, which were allegedly “loaded into shipping containers,” with some of them “bound for United Arab Emirates.”
The federal filing follows a months-long probe by DHS.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Shahin was still being held in Broward County by US Marshals. He’s anticipated to be extradited to New Jersey on federal accusations.
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