The bank robber known to law enforcement as the “Faceless Bandit,” for the mask he wore to obscure his face during robberies, was arrested in Ventura following a traffic stop by officers with the Ventura Police Department, announced Deirdre L. Fike, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. Kyle Jason Korte, 36, of Beverly Hills, was arrested without incident on November 10, 2016, and made his initial appearance in United States District Court in Orange County yesterday where he was held without bail.

Korte is charged in a federal criminal complaint alleging violations of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) and/or (d), bank robbery and armed bank robbery in connection with the following incidents:

• October 7, 2016: Bank of America in Playa Vista
• October 12, 2016: Bank of the West in Torrance
• October 27, 2016: Union Bank in Laguna Beach
• October 27, 2016: Chase Bank in Seal Beach

Following the Seal Beach robbery, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Sergeant who was involved in Korte’s previous bank robbery arrest in 2014 contacted Seal Beach Police Department to advise of Korte’s similarity with the robber shown in Seal Beach bank surveillance photographs. This information and further investigation led to Korte’s identification and arrest.

Agents and detectives with the following agencies investigated the case: Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Seal Beach Police Department, Laguna Beach Police Department, Torrance Police Department, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case will be prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.