‘Operation Dirty Paper:’ 15 people, 2 businesses charged for alleged Lebanon County chop shops

LEBANON COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — An investigation uncovered alleged “chop shops” in Lebanon County being run by what Attorney General Dave Sunday described as an “elaborate, multi-layered criminal organization.”

Sunday announced that the investigation, dubbed “Operation Dirty Paper,” led to the arrest of 15 people who allegedly made more than $500,000 through the chop shops for years.

“The Grand Jury returned two separate presentments as our investigation revealed many layers to this conduct,” Sunday said. “The individuals involved had their specialized lanes of criminal activity. Together they operated as an assembly line of criminality.”

The one shop was at a home and was allegedly being run by Angel Vidal, while the other shops at El Fuerte Tire Shop and El Fuerte Auto Sales, both located along Maple Street, were allegedly being run by Yonathan Peguero-Rodriguez and Johandeiry Bonilla, Sunday said.

Vidal is currently locked up at Northumberland County Prison for similar alleged crimes, Sunday added.

Those arrested in the scheme, and the businesses, were charged with corrupt organizations, insurance fraud, bank fraud, identity theft and forgery.

Sunday alleged that rental vehicles were stolen by the group, then taken to the shops, where they were dismantled and prepared to be resold on the black market for less than what they were worth. This allowed the group to wash their hands of the vehicles before the rental companies could find out.

Most of the stolen vehicles were out of state by people using fake IDs, Sunday said.

”This complex scheme involved many different types of criminal behavior that directly victimized Pennsylvanians, or put drivers and passengers at risk by being in the path of vehicles that may have been unsafe,” Sunday said. “I commend the investigators from our Insurance Fraud and Organized Crime sections, as well as the Pennsylvania State Police, for unraveling these convoluted criminal enterprises and bringing charges that bring them to a halt.”

The El Fuerte shops allegedly aided by not properly inspecting vehicles, misrepresenting vehicle prices, renting dealer plates, and falsifying records.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Erik Olsen and Deputy Attorney General Jose Perez of the Office of Attorney General’s Insurance Fraud Sections will prosecute the case.