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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. So much for listening today. I really do appreciate your.
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