NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Authorities arrested three Brooklyn men this week, accusing the trio of stealing more than $30 million in cash and valuables from safe deposit boxes at banks in Europe and Asia over a years-long period.
Val Cooper, 56, Alex Levin, 52, and Garri Smith, 49, were charged with money laundering conspiracy and violations of the Travel Act following their arrests Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.
A grand jury indictment alleges they stole cash and valuables from banks in Ukraine, Russia, North Macedonia, Moldova, Latvia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and France between March 2015 and October 2019.
"The crimes we allege in this indictment read like something straight out of Hollywood fiction," FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney said in a press release. "The thieves used sophisticated tools to thwart security systems at foreign banks and tried to cover their tracks by laundering money through U.S. banks."
Authorities allege the men targeted foreign banks that appeared to lack security features, including surveillance cameras in certain areas.
Once a bank was selected, they allegedly rented safe deposit boxes at the location by posing as customers. They then allegedly went into the safe deposit box rooms and used "sophisticated camera equipment," including borescopes, to photograph the insides of locks of the safe deposit boxes.
The men then used the photographs to create duplicate keys to open the safe deposit boxes and steal valuables, including currency, gold bars, jewelry and other property, prosecutors allege.
