Tou Sue Vang, along with his brother Andrew and mother Monica Moua, ran a profitable family business in Sacramento.
However, favourable family businesses are illegal and were involved in purchasing catalytic converters stolen in a scheme that earned more than $38 million for the family, authorities said.
On Tuesday, 33-year-old Tou Sue Vang was sentenced to 12 years in a role in the theft ring, according to a news release from the US Lawyer’s Office for the Eastern District of California.
In 2023, Van, along with his brother and mother, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport stolen catalytic converters he bought from a local burglar and selling them to a New Jersey buyer for more than $38 million, officials said. Vang also pleaded guilty to 39 additional money laundering fees. Van’s brother and mother are awaiting the sentence.
Catalytic converter theft has become common throughout the US as the car parts are easy to steal, do not include identification markings and are extremely valuable. Catalytic converters contain precious metals that are each worth more than $1,000 on the black market.
At least one man from Inglewood was shot and killed while trying to stop the theft of the catalytic converter.
Vang and his family operated illegal businesses from private property and storage units and did not have a valid business license or scrapid, officials said. Van has shipped over £1,000 to DG Auto in New Jersey.
DG Auto then sold converters and precious metals to metal refineries, selling them for over $600 million.
The case also includes 12 New Jersey defendants. This includes brothers Navin Khanna and Tinu Khanna, who run DG Auto and purchased catalytic converters stolen from California.
Van used some of the money from the business to not only buy a five-acre, $1.235 billion home in Rio Linda, another home in Sacramento, but also more than a dozen cars and private vessels, authorities said. Van confiscated more than $150,000 in cash, plus 13 cars, four vessels, jewelry, real estate and other properties as part of his sentence.
“The defendant led a network of criminals who hurt thousands of innocent car owners,” Atty said. News release by Michele Beckwith. “This case represents the kind of extensive investigation that federal, state and local law enforcement partners can do when working together.”
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