Scammer Faces Six Years in Prison for Stealing $1M from SoCal Surfers
A man is facing six years and three months behind bars, following an elaborate criminal operation, which defrauded Southern California surfers out of $1 million.
Moundir Kamil, 56, was the ringleader of the crime syndicate, and he’s expected to be sentenced in Los Angeles federal court on Wednesday. The crimes stem from last year, with the group of robbers targeting surfers from San Diego to Los Angeles County.
Working as a team, they would stalk surfers, watch where they would stash their keys, then break into their cars, and steal their phones and bank cards. As it turns out, celebrated surf filmmaker Logan “Chucky” Dulien was one of the victims – and after he got swindled in Newport Beach during a surf session, he helped organize a sting operation.
Elaborating on the how the criminals operated, here’s CBS:
“While surfers were locked out of their cars, the thieves would empty bank accounts, investment holdings, crypto wallets and other money- holding programs. In an especially devious twist, when credit card companies called to check if there was fraudulent activity stemming from a purchase at stores such as Chanel or the Apple Store, the thieves, who had possession of the phone, would simply answer and approve the charges, documents show.”
The outlet added that the U.S. Attorney’s Office “is asking that he be sentenced to six years and three months in prison and ordered to pay over $1 million in restitution and fees.”
Back when this all went down, Dulien appeared on Anderson Cooper to talk about the ordeal, and how he and the surf community got together to stop the criminals.
Police say an organized crime ring targeted Southern California surfers, stealing phones and wallets to drain bank accounts and max out credit cards. @nickwattcnn reports. pic.twitter.com/IuTEypccp5
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) March 26, 2025
“They got the guys red-handed,” he said. “It [the footage] has them visually going in [to the car]; it has them handing off the phone. It has everything. And the big kahuna was there a block away.”
“The surf community is one tribe,” Chucky added. “Everyone doesn’t get along, but at the end of the day, if someone is drowning, we’re gonna do whatever we can to save them.”