Mail Theft, SIM Swapping And Bank Fraud: Man Pleads Not Guilty To Beverly Hills Scheme

BEVERLY HILLS, CA —A North Hills man on Monday pleaded not guilty to charges he obtained nearly $2.6 million by stealing Beverly Hills residents' identities by stealing their mail, opening fraudulent bank accounts and gaining unauthorized access to their phone numbers, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Authorities are searching for at least 20 additional victims, prosecutors said.

Oren David Sela, 35, is charged with three counts of bank fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, one count of possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices, one count of unlawful possession of at least five identity documents, and two counts of possession of stolen mail, according to federal prosecutors.

Hit trial is tentatively set to being Dec. 26.

Sela had been in federal custody since his Oct. 10 arrest and was previously ordered held without bond. Authorities first arrested him in Dec. 2022 after he was found driving a car reported as stolen. At that time, law enforcement found six debit and credit cards in the names of four different victims, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Since then, authorities have found him in possession of bank account information belonging to at least 18 different victim accounts, five driver's licenses, seven debit and credit cards and checks and receipts for expensive retail items, including a watch worth nearly $17,000, prosecutors said.

Sela is accused of stealing the mail of Beverly Hills residents between Nov. 2021 and Oct. 2023. Using the mail to obtain personal identifying information, Sela opened bank accounts in the victims' names and transferred their funds. In order to beat phone-based security measures, he would engage in SIM swapping, where he would transfer a victim's phone number to a phone he controlled, prosecutors said.

The losses incurred by four victims total some $2.6 million. Authorities believe there are at least 20 additional victims that have yet to be identified, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

If he's convicted of all charges, Sela faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each bank fraud count, up to 10 years in federal prison for the possession of unauthorized access devices count and for the unlawful possession of identity documents count, a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each possession of stolen mail count, and for the aggravated identity theft count, a mandatory two-year prison sentence consecutive to the rest of his sentence, prosecutors said.