A Beverly Hills man was expected to appear in federal court Wednesday on charges alleging that he ripped off more than $1.8 million in jewelry, clothing and accessories from guests at a luxury hotel in the city and then traveled to Florida to sell the stolen goods.
Jobson Marangoni De Castro, 37, is charged with interstate transportation of stolen property in a complaint filed Monday. He was arrested that evening at Los Angeles International Airport, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
An affidavit filed with the complaint states that two friends — both residents of Brazil — flew together to Los Angeles and checked into the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel on May 5 to attend a fashion event.
On the evening of May 10, De Castro allegedly traveled by Uber to the hotel, tricked a Peninsula employee into giving him a key to the victims’ room, and — while the friends were at dinner — stole six of their suitcases. The bags contained jewelry, clothing and accessories worth more than $1.8 million, court papers indicated.
Later that evening, the victims returned to their hotel room to discover the suitcases were missing. Peninsula staff notified law enforcement about the theft.
De Castro then traveled to Miami and, on May 17, messaged a buyer in Miami on Instagram that he wanted to sell jewelry — a diamond necklace and luxury watch — and that he did not have papers for them because he had found them in a box belonging to his late mother, prosecutors allege.
The jewelry matched the description of belongings stolen from the Beverly Hills hotel room a few days earlier, according to the complaint. On May 18, the buyer wired De Castro $50,000 for the jewelry, which De Castro allegedly brought to the buyer’s store in Miami.
The name De Castro provided to the buyer was “Jobs Marangoni,” the same name he used for his Uber account, the affidavit alleges.
If convicted, De Castro would face up to 10 years in federal prison.
He was expected to make his initial appearance in Los Angeles federal court on Wednesday.