Posts in category: Crime News

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — August 14, 2024 – Two South Americans who were part of a “crime tourism” group were charged Tuesday with stealing a man’s $1 million watch at gunpoint while he dined at a restaurant patio at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The crew had been scouting the victim — and his watch — for two weeks and committed another robbery in Beverly Hills while staying at a Los Angeles Airbnb, prosecutors said. During a search of the Airbnb, officers discovered a gun registered to the notorious former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner, who killed four people before committing suicide in 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Suspect 1– Jamer Mauricio Sepulveda Salazar, 21, of Colombia, is charged with one count of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act) and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Suspect 2– Jesus Eduardo Padron Rojas, 19, of Venezuela, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit a Hobbs Act robbery, prosecutors said.

The robbery occurred Aug. 7 at around 6:40 p.m. when the victim was sitting with his wife and 5-year-old twin daughters on the patio of The Blvd restaurant at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, near Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, Homeland Security Task Force Officer Thomas Ferguson wrote in court documents obtained by Patch.

One suspect approached the group and pointed a semi-automatic handgun at the victim and pulled back the gun’s slide, chambering a round. While he held the victim at gunpoint and yelled in Spanish, the second suspect approached the man and removed the silver Patek Philippe Emerald Nautilus watch from his wrist, prosecutors said.

The victim, a U.K. citizen and United Arab Emirates resident who was a guest at the hotel, said he feared for his and his family’s lives and let the suspect take the watch without a struggle, according to court documents

The suspects fled the scene on Rodeo Drive and eventually got into a blue Toyota Corolla; Sepulveda served as the getaway driver, prosecutors said. The car was “cold plated” — using a license plate that was not registered to the vehicle. That often suggests the plate is stolen and used to conceal crimes and avoid police attention, according to court documents. Authorities three days later executed a search warrant at an Airbnb where the South American theft group had been staying on Browning Boulevard in Los Angeles: Security camera footage showed the group leaving the night before, according to court documents.

During the search, officers found a Glock 21 .45 caliber handgun in a bedroom that was registered to Dorner, according to court documents. Authorities have not said how they believe the suspects came to possess the gun.

Click here to view the article written by Chris Lindahl.

A press release from the Manhattan, NY District Attorney is posted verbatim below:

JULY 25, 2024

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. today announced the indictment of MANASHE SEZANAYEV, 41, for defrauding two diamond merchants by covertly swapping their diamonds for lab grown stones – worth substantially less than natural stones – that were cut to resemble the diamonds that the merchants had been offering for sale. SEZANAYEV is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with two counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, one count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, and three counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Third Degree. [1]

“Diamonds are forever, but this alleged scheme was short-lived. As alleged, Manashe Sezanayev took advantage of diamond merchants by stealing their diamonds and replacing them with fake stones,” said District Attorney Bragg. “Merchants are expected to conduct business in a fair and honest manner. Those who take advantage of consumers will be held accountable.”

According to court documents and statements made on the record in court, in early 2024, SEZANAYEV operated his company, Rachel’s Diamonds, in the Diamond District in Manhattan.

On February 5, 2024, a diamond merchant visited SEZANAYEV at his office with two diamonds that SEZANAYEV claimed to be interested in buying, valued at approximately $185,000 and $75,000. SEZANAYEV allegedly inspected the two stones and turned his back to the merchant to weigh them on his scale. He swapped the diamonds for lab grown stones that had been recut to imitate the natural stones and inscribed with forged Gemological Institute of America (“GIA”) laser inscriptions.

On March 27, 2024, SEZANAYEV told a second diamond merchant that he had a customer interested in buying that merchant’s diamond, valued at approximately $200,000. That same day, SEZANAYEV purchased a lab grown stone that was later recut to resemble that natural diamond and inscribed with a forged GIA laser inscription to mimic that natural diamond.

On April 2, 2024, the second merchant met with SEZANAYEV and the purported customer, and SEZANAYEV examined the merchant’s diamond. That merchant later learned that the stone SEZANAYEV returned to him was a lab grown diamond that was cut to resemble his stone.

Assistant D.A. Ben Rose (Financial Frauds Bureau) is handling the prosecution of this case under the supervision of Assistant D.A.s Kofi Sansculotte (Bureau Chief of the Financial Frauds Bureau) and Jodie Kane (Chief of the Investigation Division).

D.A. Bragg thanked the NYPD, particularly Detective Joseph Metsopulos of the Major Case Squad. He also thanked GIA for their work in this investigation.

Defendant Information:

MANASHE SEZANAYEV

Forest Hills, Queens

Charged:

Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony, two counts
Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a class E felony, one count
Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Third Degree, a class A misdemeanor, three counts

#

Source

El Paso, TX – August 6, 2024 – Last week, special agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso, TX relinquished custody of 21-year-old Jean Torres Roman, to the Denver County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado.

Roman had been arrested in Las Cruces, NM. HSI has said Roman is a member of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua. He is also a suspect in a robbery that occurred at a jewelry store in Denver, CO on June 25th, 2024 in which two female jewelry store workers were pistol whipped. Several of Roman’s accomplices are still at large.

Click here and here to read more about this arrest and the robbery in Denver, CO.

If you have any information regarding the outstanding subjects involved in the Denver robbery, please contact the Jewelers Security Alliance at jsa2jewelerssecurity.org or 212-687-0328.

The subjects from the Denver jewelry store robbery are below.

LONG ISLAND, NY – August 6, 2024 – Police on Long Island arrested two men in connection to a watch theft at a jewelry store in Greenvale, NY. It happened on July 17 at 3:15 p.m. According to police, the two suspects, Petru Magdas, 49, and Petru Munteanu, 28, distracted the salesperson and stole a $275,325 Audemars Piguet Royal Oak custom diamond watch. Police said the watch was recovered, and no injuries were reported. Both Munteanu and Magdas were arraigned on Aug 2.

Police said Munteanu is on the loose again after failing to get his GPS monitoring device. Magdas is being held behind bars because he already has a fugitive warrant out for his arrest. Police said Magdas was previously removed from the United States in 2017 and 2018. Click here to read the source of the original article provided by Fox 5 New York.

Fugitive Petru Munteanu should be considered a continued threat for committing distraction thefts of jewelry. Jewelers and their employees should be on alert. If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Fugitive Petru Munteanu, please contact the Jewelers Security Alliance at jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org or 212-687-0328.