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A New Jersey resident has been apprehended for the alleged
trafficking of a substantial number of SpaceX Starlink
terminals, estimated at 675 units, acquired through illicit
means, involving stolen credit card details and compromised
Starlink billing accounts. According to law enforcement
authorities, this guy, Kelvin Rodriguez Moya, 35, faced arrest
after being intercepted by the police on December 4th.
He was in possession of 223 Starlink terminals while driving
a big up truck and trailer shortly after departing from a
residence in Lawrence Township, NJ.
As stated in the criminal complaint now, the shipping
labels on the terminals indicated various names but were
all directed to a single address.
This anomaly raised suspicions and prompted the Lawrence
Township Police to initiate an investigation following a tip
off regarding the unusual volume of Starlink terminals being
delivered to one particular home.
Now, during the police surveillance, Rodriguez Moyo was
observed loading a FedEx consignment of the terminals
onto his vehicle and the police stop revealed the extent of this
operation, with Moya confessing that he was compensated $300 to
transport the terminals to Newark for resale purposes.
Now, the investigation uncovered that the total worth of the
Starlight terminals involved in this scheme amounted to
approximately $400,000. Bennett Wu from SpaceX,
responsible for payment risk and fraud, described the seizure of
the company's quote most extensive fraud recovery to
date, highlighting the significant scale of the
separation. Now, Lieutenant Kevin Redding of
the Lawrence Township Police provided insights into the
ongoing investigation, indicating that the case's
complexities are still being unraveled with the assistance of
SpaceX to understand the procurement process of these
terminals. Now, Starlink terminals are in
very high demand globally right now, offering high speed
Internet connectivity via Spacex's satellite constellation
and their significant extends beyond civilian years, though
attracting interest from military and governmental bodies
worldwide, further complicating the implications of such a
trafficking operation. Now the situation took an
international turn when Ukrainian intelligence reported
the use of Starlink terminals by Russian military forces in
occupied Ukrainian territories, a claim the SpaceX under Elon
Musk's leadership has denied, stating no direct or indirect
sales were made to Russia. And following his arrest,
Rodriguez Moya faces charges related to receiving and
trafficking stolen property, highlighting this serious nature
of the allegations against him. Now details emerge from a
recorded police interview where Rodriguez Moya recounted his
involvement with the Starlink terminals dating back to
November, introducing individual named Alberto who played a part
in orchestrating the shipments to the Roxboro Road address.
Now the Lawrence Township Police's discovery of the stolen
property resulted from a meticulously conducted 3 month
investigation leading to Rodriguez Moya's arrest and the
revelation of a sophisticated operation leveraging stolen
credit card information for acquiring the terminals.
Now, initial police alerts were triggered by the abnormal volume
of shipments to the Roxboro Road address, with subsequent
investigations revealing the online purchase and delivery
mechanism exploited by the perpetrators for their
operations. And the seizure of over 200
terminals during a vehicular stop marked a breakthrough in
this case, though they provided tangible evidence of the
trafficking operation and enabled the recovery of a
fraction of the stolen assets. Spacex's official statement on
the magnitude of the fraud recovery shows that this is
pretty big deal, and it's the largest operation within the
company's history, and it sets a new benchmark for fraud related
losses and recoveries for SpaceX and Starlink.
Now the progression saw involvement from federal
authorities too. With the FBI being notified,
indicating the potential broader ramifications of this case and
the interagency collaboration required to address such
sophisticated criminal activities, you have to wonder
what did they do with these terminals?
Who did they sell them to? Did they sell them out of the
United States? Those questions will hopefully
be answered in the months to come.
And despite attempts to reach Rodriguez Moya's legal
representatives for comments, there was no immediate response,
leaving many questions unanswered to us regarding his
defense and the allegations. Specifics now.
The use of the Lawrence Township location as a logistical hub for
the stolen properties distribution paints kind of a
picture of a well organized operation, leveraging the
anonymity and efficiency of online transactions to
perpetrate large scale fraud. Now Rodriguez Moya is awaiting
the detention hearing. The case remains A focal point
for law enforcement and also SpaceX.
They're coming for this guy, reflecting the ongoing
challenges in combating sophisticated digital fraud, in
the importance of safeguarding against such vulnerabilities in
an increasingly connected world. And also Starlink.
They're worth a lot of money. People want to get their hands
on them. Sometimes it's hard to get them.
When I was in Boca Chica, Texas, when I lived in Brownsville and
I was covering Spacex's Starship, I would have thought I
could have gotten a Starlink immediately, because that's
where SpaceX is based. Almost.
But I had to wait almost a year just to get signed up for a
terminal. And my sister, who lives in
rural New York, she had to wait two years for hers.
Finally got it. But they're in high demand still
now. The arrest of Calvin Rodiguez
Moya in New Jersey for trafficking stolen SpaceX
Starlink terminals. It's a complex issue.
It's a huge operation, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the
investigation is ongoing. We'll keep you up to date here
on the Elon Musk Podcast. Hey, thank you.
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