Five people have been arrested and charged with engaging in organized crime in connection with a scheme that allegedly stole high-end vehicles being shipped across the country, Houston police said. Three of the suspects are members of a Katy family, including a teen son who allegedly helped in the scheme while still a juvenile.
The suspects are Dheyaa Thabit Abd, 41; Iman Ouda Al Saedi, 35; the couple’s teenage son, whose name was not provided; Matthew Gonzalez, 29; and Saifuldeen Al Gburi, 30. Al Gburi was arrested in Collin County, Texas, on Wednesday.
Investigators said the suspects allegedly intercepted vehicles being transported to customers, disabled their factory-installed tracking devices and moved the cars through Houston before arranging shipments overseas.
“We’re talking very high end vehicles. They targeted a lot of Mercedes, a lot of Cadillacs, Cadillac Escalades, Range Rovers, Lamborghinis, Rolls Royces, Bentleys, pretty much anything that had a very high price point, well over $100,000,” Sgt. Ben LeBlanc of the Houston Police Department’s Auto Theft Division said.
Police said the investigation accounted for approximately 15 vehicles over a three-month period, with a total value of more than $3 million, but investigators believe the theft ring has been operating for years. Some of the vehicles were recovered at the Port of New York and New Jersey, LeBlanc said, already in shipping containers and marked as “rebar” to be shipped overseas.
HPD coordinated with the New York Police Department and New Jersey State Police to recover some of the vehicles, LeBlanc said. Investigators have not revealed who the end receiver of the vehicles may have been.
The reported victims included people shipping vehicles after a move or purchase, as well as local dealerships and auction houses.
One of the shipping platforms the suspects targeted included Central Dispatch, according to court records, but a company spokesperson told KPRC 2 News there is no evidence the platform has been hacked.
“Bad actors typically target shippers and carriers with very convincing phishing and social engineering schemes to steal their credentials, including their second factor authentication method, to commit the vast majority of transport fraud,” a company spokesperson said. “We provide robust security solutions and education to help our customers defend themselves against such schemes--and our team works closely with law enforcement, when possible and requested, to assist in their investigations.”
The investigation began after police received reports of stolen vehicles with tracking systems that showed their last known locations in Houston. Some vehicles had been stolen from other parts of Texas or other states, LeBlanc said.
Investigators said the suspects allegedly posed as vehicle owners or customers to take possession of cars from transport drivers. In some cases, police said, the suspects allegedly posed as transport companies to win shipping jobs, gathered vehicle information, then contacted legitimate carriers and rerouted the cars to Houston.
The cars were then allegedly taken to commercial parking lots scattered around the city, where they were left for hours or days for a “cool down period” after their tracking devices were disabled. The group then arranged transportation to East Coast port cities, where vehicles were packaged in containers for overseas shipment, LeBlanc said.
The three family members worked together to pick up vehicles and conduct counter-surveillance, according to police. The family also allegedly worked with the two other suspects to acquire vehicles and move them to stash locations. The parents operated a mechanics business in a southwest Houston shopping strip, LeBlanc said, adding that some people from the shop were paid to pick up vehicles.
The case is the first of its kind in which the Houston Police Department’s Auto Theft Division has arrested and charged suspects, LeBlanc said. He described the scheme as sophisticated.
“This is something that law enforcement agencies across the country have been seeing an uptick in I would say over the last like three or four years,” LeBlanc said. “It was very sophisticated as to they knew exactly what time and location these were going to be delivered. They would have their group there to take immediate possession of it.”
LeBlanc shared these tips for people shipping a vehicle:
“If you see any discrepancies at all, don’t let your car go,” LeBlanc said.
Court records show Abd and Al Saedi posted a $100,000 bond, and Gonzalez posted a $50,000 bond. Those three have been released from the Harris County jail. As of Thursday afternoon, Al Gburi remains in the Collin County jail.
KPRC 2 News has reached out to defense attorneys listed for Abd, Al Saedi, and Gonzalez.
