Woman Helped Steal Millions From Banks, ATMs In CA, Other States: Authorities

A woman pleaded guilty this week to her role in a sophisticated series of cross-state bank and ATM robberies in which millions of dollars were stolen from financial institutions along the West Coast, including in California, according to authorities.

Maite Celis Silva, 27, of Chile, pleaded guilty Monday to bank robbery and conspiracy to commit bank robbery arising from the string of robberies throughout California, Oregon and Washington, authorities said.

Celis was part of a South American theft group that conspired to break into and steal money from financial institutions between May and October of 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
To assist her co-conspirators, Celis rented short-term vacation properties near the banks and ATMs the crew intended to target, authorities said, adding the properties served as staging locations for the robberies.

The conspirators rented cars on the black market to transport themselves to and from the robbery locations and once they identified ATMs in vulnerable areas, they used construction-crew disguises, blowtorches and cellphone jammers, among other tactics, to break in and steal cash, according to the department.

The total loss caused by the conspiracy while Celis was a participant was more than $5.5 million, authorities said.

Celis is set for sentencing on June 1, according to the department. She faces up to 20 years in prison for bank robbery and five years in prison for conspiracy to commit bank robbery, authorities said.

Nine others are charged for their roles in the conspiracy, according to the department.

The FBI and the police departments of Fresno, Citrus Heights, Clovis, Elk Grove, Modesto, Rocklin, Roseville and Sacramento, as well as the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, conducted the investigation with assistance from the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office and the Seattle Police Department, authorities said.