Crime & Safety
Seal Beach Police Arrest Eight in Massive Counterfeiting Raid
More than 200 officers served warrants in "Operation Money Wash" aimed at crippling counterfeiting operations benefiting street gangs.
The Seal Beach Police Department and United States Secret Service arrested eight people in connection with a massive counterfeiting scheme.
The raid, dubbed “Operation Money Wash” netted several suspects that are either members or affiliates of the criminally organized “51 Nothing But Trouble Gangster Crips” and the “52nd Hoover Gangster Crips,” according to the Seal Beach Police Department,
“This group is responsible for over 140 separate crimes in over 50 cities. With that, over $100,000 worth of counterfeit bills have been seized nationally,” Seal Beach Police Department Sgt. Phil Gonshak said in a written release. “Our Secret Service partners advised us they first observed these counterfeit twenties as early as 2013 and they have been found throughout the country and as far away as Jamaica. Although this started with counterfeit bills, many of the suspects involved have substantial and violent criminal histories.”
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The bust stems from a months-long investigation involving the Seal Beach, Cypress and Los Alamitos police departments with the United States Secret Service. More than 200 officers and SWAT Teams served search warrants in the case in 15 separate Los Angeles County locations Thursday.
“Detectives believe these suspects are responsible for additional counterfeit cases,” said Gonshak. “With all of these suspects in custody, we are hoping that victims and witnesses will be willing to come forward and provide further evidence and/or information that will be needed to charge the suspects with additional crimes.”
Find out what's happening in Los Alamitos-Seal Beachfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Police ask that anyone who has information regarding this case or other crimes that could be associated with this case contact Seal Beach Police Department’s, Detective Chris Hendrix at (562) 799-4100, Ext. 1109, email: chendrix@sealbeachca.gov or Sergeant Joe Miller at (562) 799-4100, Ext. 1112, email:jmiller@sealbeachca.gov.
Lastly, anonymous tips may be submitted by phone at (855) TIP-OCCS (855-847-6227) or online at www.occrimestoppers.org.
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