Man sentenced in scheme that ripped off $1 million from surfers in San Diego and across SoCal

An Orange County man was sentenced Wednesday to three years and eight months in prison for his role in a crime ring that targeted surfers, stealing their bank cards and phones to drain money from their accounts while they were catching waves at beaches in San Diego County and across Southern California.

Moundir Kamil, 56, pleaded guilty in September to one count each of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, attempted bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in the scheme that netted nearly $1 million between April 2021 and December 2022, according to federal prosecutors. He will also have to pay restitution of $979,772, the loss prosecutors allege he caused to financial institutions because of the scheme.

Kamil’s co-defendants, Jordan Adams and Jennifer Pruneda, previously pleaded guilty to the same charges. Further information about their cases was sealed from public view.

Through tears, Kamil apologized to victims of the theft ring and his family in a Los Angeles federal courtroom.

“I blame myself daily,” he said.

Kamil’s attorney, John Hanusz, argued in a sentencing memo that his client should face a custodial sentence of 40 months. The sentence, Hanusz argued, would be just part of Kamil’s punishment, saying he’ll likely be deported to Morocco after serving his sentence, despite living in the United States for 40 year...