The NYPD has asked for the public’s assistance in identifying the man shown above in connection with three Brooklyn bank robberies perpetrated in January 2018.
The unidentified man robbed the Ponce De Leon Federal Bank at 169 Smith Street on January 2nd, Dime Bank at 814 Manhattan Avenue on January 9th, and Chase Bank at 20 Flatbush Avenue on January 17th. He made off with $1,500 in cash from the first robbery.
On February 13, 2018, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman announced that NYPD Detective Michael Bonanno had been arrested and charged in connection with a scheme to use stolen bank account numbers to make payments on his home mortgage and credit card accounts.
Domenic Aiello, a longtime associate of Bonanno, was also charged.
On February 15, 2018, twin brothers Christian and Tyler Toro, both 27, were arrested and hit with federal explosives charges after law enforcement agents found a cache of bomb-making materials at their home in the Pelham Parkway section of the Bronx.
According to the complaint and a press briefing held at NYPD headquarters, Christian Toro came under suspicion after a bomb threat was called in to the Harlem high school where he worked as a teacher in December 2017. A 15-year old student was arrested in connection with that incident, and Toro abruptly resigned a short time later. On January 12, Christian had his brother Tyler return a work laptop to the school, and a technical specialist at the school found a copy of a bomb-making book on the laptop. School officials promptly notified the NYPD.
Video: CNN / YouTube
On September 15, 2017, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced that Michael Arnstein, 41, had pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to forge a federal judge’s signature in connection with a scheme to get websites containing negative reviews of his business removed from Google search results.
Arnstein began working at his family’s jewelry company in the mid-1990s and eventually succeeded his father as president. Founded in 1939, the company specializes in selling white sapphires as an alternative to diamonds for engagement rings. The company has an e-commerce website as well as a showroom and workshop in midtown Manhattan. It also has mining and production facilities in Sri Lanka.
On December 15, 2017, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced that four men had pled guilty to participating in two 2016 bank burglaries.
Michael Mazzara, Charles Kerrigan, Christopher Kerrigan, and Anthony Mascuzzio burglarized an HSBC Bank branch in Brooklyn and a Maspeth Federal Savings Bank branch in Queens over two weekends in April and May 2016, respectively. Both banks were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The Mazzara burglary crew used acetylene blowtorches to cut into the bank vaults from the roofs of the buildings. They stole over $20 million in cash and valuables from the bank vaults and safe deposit boxes.