Central District of California

LOS ANGELES – A Beverly Hills man is expected to appear in federal court today on a criminal complaint alleging he stole more than $1.8 million in jewelry, clothing, and accessories from victims at a hotel in Beverly Hills in May then traveled to Florida to sell the stolen goods.

Jobson Marangoni De Castro, 37, is charged in a complaint filed Monday with interstate transportation of stolen property. He was arrested Monday evening at Los Angeles International Airport and is expected to make his initial appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, two victims – both residents of Brazil – traveled together to Beverly Hills on May 5 to attend a fashion event scheduled for May 9.

On the evening of May 10, De Castro allegedly traveled by Uber to the victims’ hotel, tricked a hotel employee into giving him a key to the victims’ room, and – while the victims were away having dinner – stole six suitcases belonging to them. The suitcases contained jewelry, clothing, and accessories worth more than $1.8 million.

Later that evening, the victims returned to their hotel room to discover all six of their suitcases were missing. The hotel staff then notified law enforcement about the theft.

De Castro then traveled to Miami and, on May 17, messaged a buyer in Miami on Instagram. De Castro told the buyer 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. The jewelry matched the description of that stolen from the victims in Beverly Hills 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.

A criminal complaint contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, De Castro would face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

The FBI and the Beverly Hills Police Department are investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Sarah S. Lee of the General Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.

Ciaran McEvoyPublic Information [email protected](213) 894-4465