A gang of Colombian migrants left with millions of dollars of precious stones in different states, which led part of the loot to a putnam -viglei jewelers who melted the gold and fenced the gold, said the federal prosecutors this week.
The “South -American theft group” operated in Florida, Georgia, California and elsewhere aimed at traveling jewelry sellers and shops, from September 2019 to August 2021, the authorities said.
Their biggest score came in February 2020, when they robbed no less than $ 2.6 million of merchandise from a traveling jewelry seller in Boynton Beach, FL, the court shows.
The year before they took $ 730,000 in jewelry during a September theft of a car in Boca Raton, FL and $ 125,000 during a robbery in Miami Beach in November.
Parts of the stolen merchandise were unloaded to Mark Simon, a resident of Westchester County who reportedly paid the prices of the cut win in cash and often traveled to Florida to meet them in hotel rooms, said officers of justice.
Simon, 56, is said to have paid only $ 16,000 for part of the $ 1 million to Baubbles stolen in a Dalton, GA, burglary, according to prosecutors and court reports.
Simon was arrested on Wednesday in his house in Jefferson Valley on accusation of conspiracy to wash monetary instruments white and released on a bond of $ 50,000, according to records.
He did not argue.
It is unclear whether one of the thieves that have not been publicly identified have been arrested or deported.
South American theft groups have committed brutal crimes throughout the country, including the theft of December at Cinncinati Bengals Quarterback Joe Burrow’s Ohio Home, where a Trio Chilean thieves are said to have stolen $ 300,000 in luxury goods.
It is believed that a similar gang was burglaries in the houses of Kansas City Stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce behind October.
In November, six illegal migrants who were part of a South -American theft group used to break into a jewelry store on Long Island and were later packed – only to flee after five of them were liberated on bail, with some of the suspects used to cut the ankle monitors they received.
Simon is involved in both the sale of the retail and wholesaler, said his lawyer, Jeffrey Chartier.
“If you are in wholesale trade, you are looking for the best prices for products,” said Chartier while retaining the innocence of his customer.
