Posts in category: Crime Suspects

Miami, FL – September 2023 – Three subjects are wanted for cutting through the wall of an adjacent vacant business to gain entry into a jewelry store.

The subjects cut the store’s wires, and tried to destroy their surveillance equipment and computers. The subjects were observed on video wheeling out the store’s safe. Watch the video below to learn more. If you have any information regarding these subjects, please contact the Jewelers’ Security Alliance at jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org or 212-687-0328.

Click here to view a news report about this crime.

Crime scene images are below.

New York, NY – On September 15, 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York issued a press release about a subject who was sentenced for an armed robbery at a jewelry store. The press release is posted verbatim below:

Friday, September 15, 2023

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that PABLO ARMANDO VALENZUELA was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero to 70 months in prison for committing an armed robbery of a jewelry store in the Bronx, New York.  VALENZUELA previously pled guilty to one count of Hobbs Act robbery.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “The defendant committed a violent armed robbery of a Bronx jewelry store and injured innocent employees and bystanders by spraying a can of extremely hazardous bear spray directly into their faces.  Violent criminals who commit firearms offenses and terrorize hardworking New Yorkers will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

According to the allegations contained in the Complaint and court filings:

On August 10, 2022, VALENZUELA, along with at least five other co-conspirators, committed an armed robbery of a jewelry store in the Bronx, New York, using a firearm, bear spray, and hammers.  On the evening of August 10, VALENZUELA entered the jewelry store wearing a ski mask and sprayed a can of bear spray into the eyes of jewelry store employees, temporarily blinding them.  As customers, including young children, attempted to flee the jewelry store, five other masked robbers entered the store and used hammers to destroy glass display cases.  At least one robber brandished a firearm.  VALENZUELA and the other robbers then stole hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry.  VALENZUELA fled the jewelry store and sprayed bear spray into the eyes of bystanders, many of whom were then rushed to the hospital.  The robbers then fled in various directions on foot, in cars, and on the backs of mopeds driven by co-conspirators who stood nearby as lookout and getaway drivers.

Photographs of VALENZUELA committing the offense are below:

In addition to his prison term, VALENZUELA, 33, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release.

VALENZUELA’s co-defendant, AARON MILLER, pled guilty to one count of Hobbs Act robbery and will be sentenced on December 1, 2023.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York City Police Department.

This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda C. Weingarten is in charge of the prosecution.

Contact

Nicholas Biase
(212) 637-2600

Updated September 15, 2023

Topic

VIOLENT CRIME

Component

USAO – New York, Southern Press Release Number:� 23-318

Newark, NJ – On September 7, 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey released a press release of an elaborate financial scheme using front companies. The press release is posted verbatim below:

Thursday, September 7, 2023

For Immediate Release

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey

NEWARK, NJ. �” Five men who work in New York City’s Diamond District were arrested today and charged with illegally processing more than $600 million through unlicensed money transmitting businesses, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Raj Vaidya, 26; Rakesh Vaidya, 51; Shrey Vaidya, 23; and Neel Patel, 26, all of Edison, New Jersey; and Youssef Janfar, aka “Joe Rodeo,” 57, of Great Neck, New York, are each charged by complaint with one count of operating and aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business. The defendants appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward S. Kiel in Newark federal court and were released on unsecured bond.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Since 2019, Raj Vaidya, Rakesh Vaidya, Shrey Vaidya, and Patel have operated numerous purported diamond, gold, and jewelry companies in New York City’s Diamond District, including Arya Diamond Jewellery USA Inc., d/b/a “Karats & Carats,” Diamspark LGD LLC, Royal Diamonds LLC, Raj Gold and Diamond LLC, Royal Arya Jewellery Inc, and Raj Gold and Diamond Inc. Janfar also purportedly operated companies in the Diamond District, including Rodeo of NY, d/b/a “Sarah Jewels.” The defendants used these and other entities as fronts to conduct hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal financial transactions for customers �” including converting cash to checks or wire transfers �” in exchange for substantial fees. At times, they moved millions of dollars in cash in a single day. None of their companies were registered as money transmitting businesses with New York, New Jersey, or the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

The charge of operating and aiding and abetting the operation of an illegal money transmitting business carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross amount of any pecuniary gain that any persons derived from the offense or of any pecuniary loss sustained by any victims of the offense, whichever is greatest.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents and task force officers of IRS – Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Tammy Tomlins in Newark; special agents and task force officers of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Cheryl Ortiz in Newark; and special agents of Homeland Security Investigations Newark, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel; with the investigation leading to the charges. He also thanked the Justice Department’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS), the Parsippany-Troy Hills Police Department, the Morristown Police Department, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation �” Office of Inspector General, and the New York City Police Department for their assistance in the investigation.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark J. Pesce of the Economic Crimes Unit, Olta Bejleri of the Organized Crime/Gangs Unit, and Angelica Sinopole of the Health Care Fraud Unit in Newark.

The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

vaidya.complaint.pdf (170.43 KB)

Updated September 7, 2023

Source

El Monte, CA – On September 9, 2023, the subject featured above deployed bear repellent against one of the store’s owners, a 70-year-old man who had been sitting outside the store. The subject then proceeded to go inside the store, sprayed other employees, and smashed a display case. The subject did not escape with any jewelry.

The subject was later identified as 36-year-old Joshua Lee Simmons.

Watch the news clips below to learn more about this crime.

If you have any information regarding this subject’s whereabouts, please contact the Jewelers’ Security Alliance at jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org or 212-687-0328.

Washington, D.C. – On August 30, 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia issued a press release announcing that a crime ring of sixteen suspects have been charged for their involvement in a multitude of crimes including 9 robberies at jewelry stores in the following states: New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Click here to read the press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Watch the news clip below to view a press conference about this crime ring.

Corona, CA – On August 20, 2023, four subjects entered a jewelry store and proceeded to pepper spray an employee. The subjects then used hammers to smash several display cases. They placed jewelry into a trash can, then ran out of the store, and entered into a nearby getaway vehicle, which was described as a white Chevrolet Malibu that did not have license plates.

Police pursued the getaway vehicle, and eventually performed a PIT maneuver which allowed them to disable the vehicle. Two of the five subjects in the car were arrested. The other three subjects escaped. The three subjects were described as men in their late teens or early twenties.

If you have any information regarding these subjects, please contact the Jewelers’ Security Alliance at jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org or 212-687-0328.

Tampa, FL – On July 28, 2023, the featured female subject entered a jewelry and walked around for several minutes and then left.

Shortly thereafter, the woman returned, but held open the store’s door, allowing two of her accomplices to gain entry into the store. The first subject wore a black hoodie and proceeded to smash a display case and stole jewelry. The second subject wore a yellow vest and was armed with a gun. This subject stood at the door and pointed the gun towards the people in the store.

One of the store’s employees fired a round at the subjects, which caused three of the subjects to flee the scene in a gray Nissan Altima. The female subject is pictured below.

Watch the video below to view the crime. If you have any information, please contact the Jewelers’ Security Alliance at jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org or 212-687-0328,

Greenville, SC – On May 17, 2023, at approximately 4:30 p.m., three subjects entered a jewelry store and demanded employees get on the floor. Two of the subjects carried firearms. They proceeded to use a hammer to breach the display cases and then stole jewelry.

The subjects are pictured below. If you have any information regarding these subjects, please contact the Jewelers’ Security Alliance at jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org or 212-687-0328.

On April 26, 2023, staff from WEAR News published an article announcing the arrests of 4 Romanian nationals who have targeted the jewelry industry. The suspects were arrested in Missouri after they stole jewelry from a jewelry store that resulted in a significant dollar loss for the business.

The suspects committed the theft at a store in the jurisdiction of the Walton County Sheriff in Florida on April 11, 2023. The four suspects are “connected to an organized crime network.” The suspects were identified as George Paun, 31, Stela Sava, 26, Terca Tarnovan, 31, and Vasile Lacatus, 27. Each suspect was charged with “grand theft over $20,000 and grand theft in concert with one or more persons” for their involvement in another theft from a jewelry store that occurred in 2022, also in the jurisdiction of the Walton County Sheriff’s Office.

Sava, Tarnovan, and Lacatus have multiple warrants for their most recently reported theft on April 11th. The Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and various state and local agencies, were described as “continuing their investigation into these suspects.” Click here to read the source for this posting and to learn how this crew was apprehended.

The suspects are featured below. If you believe your business was targeted by these suspects, please contact the Jewelers’ Security Alliance at jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org.

Watch the news clip below to learn more:

Police describe her as a possible suspect, and they are seeking information regarding her identity.