Members of a ruthless organised crime gang who targeted people after they had visited banks to withdraw cash in North and West Kent have been jailed.
Between October 2024 and February 2025, the five offenders observed the victims collecting large amounts of money from branches in Chatham, Dartford, Gravesend and Sevenoaks.
They then used surveillance techniques to follow their targets back to locations where their cars were parked. The criminals then engaged the victims in conversation while accomplices stole the cash.
The methods used to distract the victims included placing nails and pins on the floor to either cause a puncture or encourage the victim to get out and remove the potential hazard.
They also squirted sauce or mustard from a bottle onto the victim’s coat and then pointed out the stain to cause a distraction.
On each occasion, the victims, who were aged in their 60s, 70s and 80s, were engaged sufficiently for another accomplice to gain access to the cash inside a car or bag and steal it undetected.
An investigation into the incidents was commenced and detectives examined CCTV footage and Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras in the vicinity of each incident. They identified a car used by the gang and analysed its movements around the south of England.
This led to the deployment of a team of officers in plain clothes to Hemel Hempstead on 7th February. The vehicle was tracked down and five occupants were robustly arrested.
Jhon Ruiz, Maria Carmen, Solomon Rondon, Miguel Perez and Matias Vega, all of no fixed address, were later charged with conspiracy to steal.
Further investigations following their arrest found the thieves has also targeted victims in Berkshire and Essex. In total the thieves are known to have stolen £20,720 and attempted to steal a further £10,085.
All five pleaded guilty to the indictment and were sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday 7th August. Perez, 31, was imprisoned for three years and nine months and Carmen, 48, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison.
Ruiz, 40, Rondon, 49 and Vega, 32, were all jailed for two years and seven months.
Investigating officer, Detective Constable Emma Laimbeer, said ‘These heartless criminals targeted victims who could not afford to lose the large amounts of cash that were stolen. Their targets were people whose first instinct was to trust strangers who engaged them in conversation. The victims’ good natures were then exploited by an organised gang who used a variety of distraction techniques to get access to their money.’
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