Patrick Grandy, Assistant Director in Charge of FBI Los Angeles, spotlights investigative successes for the month of May. Highlights include the arrest of a man for alleged assault in furtherance of a hate crime, the indictment of a former Southern California Mayor for allegedly acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government, and the arrest of a physician allegedly involved in the largest Botox Fraud scheme in the United States.

The FBI’s Counter Drone Enforcement Team has been busy around last night’s #WorldCup game and related events ensuring drone pilots aren’t violating @FAA Temporary Flight Restrictions. But some were, and as promised, they were cited and had their drones seized. Meanwhile, Assistant Director in Charge, Patrick Grandy, briefed @DHSgov Secretary Mullin and other officials about the FBI’s security footprint, including counter-drone/UAS measures around FIFA events in order to keep Angelenos and our visitors safe. Also pictured here are seized drones and a task force member with @TSA Federal Air Marshals Service citing a drone pilot near #SoFi Stadium. #FIFA

With World Cup matches set to kick off in Los Angeles, SAC Ehsaei advises the public of the FBI's zero tolerance policy for individuals flying drones around World Cup stadiums and fan festivals. Temporary Flight Restrictions will be in place. Those who break the law may have their drones seized, face significant criminal charges and fines of up to $100,000 dollars. Check airspace restrictions using FAA-approved B4UFLY Apps or visit TFR.FAA.gov. Stay informed and report unsafe drone activity immediately at 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Mahender Makhijani of Corona del Mar, has been arrested and charged with defrauding a bank out of nearly $100 Million dollars. Learn more here: justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/ora…

Dozens of local teenagers recently spent a day with ADIC Patrick Grandy, and a team of FBI employees for the Spring iteration of the FBI Los Angeles Teen Academy. Students learned about the various career opportunities with the FBI, as well as how we investigate crimes and they can avoid being victimized.

Justin Derek Jennings, 41, of Laguna Niguel, was sentenced to nine years in federal prison for using a semi-automatic rifle to shoot at a helicopter operated by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Helicopter @OCSheriff. Read More: justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/ora…

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $1M for information leading to the arrest of Omar Alexander Cardenas. He is #wanted for his alleged involvement in the murder of a man that occurred on August 15, 2019, in a large outdoor shopping center in Sylmar, California. 👉Description: 🔹Hair: Dark Brown 🔹Eyes: Brown 🔹Height: 5'6" to 5'7" 🔹Weight: 240 to 300 pounds 🔹Tips can be placed anonymously at tips.fbi.gov or at ☎️ 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). 👉 fbi.gov/wanted/topten/omar-a…

Congratulations to Chief Kevin Martin of the Lompoc Police Department for completing the #FBI’s National Command Course (NCC)! NCC is a leadership training course for law enforcement executives who oversee departments of 50 sworn officers or less.

Four members of Mara Salvatrucha, a violent street gang and terrorist organization known as MS-13, were found guilty by a jury today of brutally murdering three victims in the Angeles National Forest, including one victim who had his heart carved out of his chest and his body dismembered then tossed down a canyon. Read more: justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/fou…

Two South Gate men pleaded guilty today to committing more than a dozen armed robberies, stealing gambling winnings from individuals leaving local casinos, stealing at least $274,600 in cash, casino chips, and other property. Dereck Nathan Lopez, 22, and Juan Gabriel Gonzalez, 23, pleaded guilty to one count of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act). Both defendants have been in federal custody since May 2025. According to their plea agreements, Lopez and Gonzalez entered local casinos under false names to hunt gamblers appearing to win or cash-in many chips. Lopez and Gonzalez then followed the victims’ vehicles from the casino, ambushed them on the highway, brandished firearms, smashed the vehicle’s windows, demanded money or chips, and fled. Lopez and Gonzalez admitted to 15 robberies and attempted robberies committed in Los Angeles County from May 2023 to December 2023, including three victims leaving a casino on a single night in December 2023. @lasdhq @lapdhq @chp_hq @montebellopd Additional details can be found here: justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/two…

This week, as part of Economic Fury, and in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office and the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action against an Iran-based procurement network that impersonated and defrauded U.S. companies in order to procure restricted goods for Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and other sanctioned Iranian end users. MODAFL is responsible for research, development, and manufacturing across Iran’s defense enterprise. An FBI Los Angeles investigation led to the seizure of 6 domains. Beginning in or about August 2019, an individual began a scheme using the domains to impersonate U.S. businesses, including a Los Angeles-based information technology company, to procure U.S.-origin network security and other IT products on behalf of OFAC-sanctioned entities. The individual created and registered numerous fraudulent, lookalike internet domains that were designed to impersonate the domains of legitimate U.S. companies, including an IT business based in Los Angeles, California. This individual then created email accounts with these domains in the names of actual people who worked, or fictitious people who purportedly worked, at each spoofed entity. This individual used these fraudulent domains, email accounts, and assumed identities to contact U.S. manufacturers and vendors in the Central District of California and elsewhere. The individual falsely represented that he was acting on behalf of the legitimate U.S. company when seeking to acquire IT hardware, software, and software licenses, when in fact this individual was acting on behalf of another person and its Iranian clients. 👉@usao_losangeles @ustreasury @commercegov 👉Splash page posted on seized domains can be seen on this post. #EconomicFury 👉Additional details can be found here: home.treasury.gov/news/press…

🚨 Applicants beware! China and other foreign governments are using professional networking and social media sites to target people with U.S government clearances. The threat is real. Verify before you trust. Learn more at ic3.gov/CSA/2026/260603.pdf

A stock analyst and frequent guest on business television news channels, Andrew Left, 55, formerly of Beverly Hills, was found guilty of multiple counts of securities fraud by a jury Monday for using his public platform to illicitly profit by manipulating stock market activity and trading opposite to the position he presented to the public. Additional details: justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/fou…

Joseph Neal Sanberg, 46, of Orange, who co-founded and served as board member of the financial technology and sustainability services company formerly known as Aspiration Partners Inc., was sentenced Monday to 168 months in federal prison for a years-long scheme in which he defrauded investors and lenders, causing more than $248 million in losses. Sanberg pleaded guilty in October 2025 to two counts of wire fraud. Additional Details: justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/ora…

Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, Patrick Grandy, joined partners at a press conference to discuss partnerships and preparations for the upcoming #FIFA Games. Grandy stressed the FBI's concerns about elevated human trafficking and UAS/drone operator compliance with #FAA temporary flight restrictions. Drone/UAS pilots are urged to visit faa.gov/uas for the latest restrictions and requirements.

A convicted murderer, whom law enforcement believes is an active member of the 18th Street gang while being paid with City of Los Angeles funds to work as a “Peace Ambassador,” was arrested Friday and charged in a federal criminal complaint him with illegally possessing two body armor plates near the city’s drug-and-crime-infested MacArthur Park. Michael Angel Alvarez, 41, a.k.a. “Diablo,” of Westlake, was charged with possession of body armor by a violent felon. According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, Alvarez is a convicted gang murderer who represents himself as working for Healing Urban Barrios, a Lincoln Heights-based organization that contracted with the city for its Peace Ambassador program that is run in the city’s Council District 1, which includes MacArthur Park. He has represented himself as a member of that organization through clothing he wears. Additional Details: justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/18t…

A South Los Angeles man was sentenced Friday to 308 months in federal prison for committing the armed robbery of an armored truck in Hawthorne on St. Valentine’s Day in 2022, a heist in which more than $166,000 in cash and customer checks were stolen and a firearm was discharged after the truck’s driver was held on the ground at gunpoint. Deneyvous Jayan Hobson, 39, of West Adams, was sentenced by United States District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha, who also ordered him to pay $166,640 in restitution. At the conclusion of a six-day trial in November 2024, a jury found Hobson guilty of one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act), one count of Hobbs Act robbery, one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. @lapdhq @lasdhq @hawthornepd @inglewood_pd Additional details: justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/sou…

A Culver City restauranteur, Philip Frederick Camino, 46, who owns a hospitality company that has developed restaurants and hotels in California, Tennessee, and Kentucky, was sentenced today to 41 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $4 million in COVID-19 economic-relief loans. Camino, who pleaded guilty in August 2024, was also ordered to pay $4,365,667 in restitution. At the conclusion of today’s hearing, Camino was remanded into federal custody. Additional details: justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/cul…