The US Department of Justice has arrested three Brooklyn residents for money laundering and conspiracy to violate the Travel Act. Between 2015 and 2019, Val Cooper, Alex Levin and Garri Smith were involved in a scheme to steal over $30 million in cash and other valuables from safe deposit boxes in banks in Eastern Europe and elsewhere, including the Ukraine, Russia, North Macedonia, Moldova, Latvia, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.
Cooper, Levin and Smith were allegedly members of a sophisticated criminal network. They used sophisticated tools such as high-tech cameras and borescopes to steal cash and other valuables from safe deposit boxes. The network targeted foreign banks that seemingly lacked video surveillance camera security in specific areas. They posed as customers, rented safe deposit boxes and then entered the rooms where these boxes were placed. Here, they used borescopes to take images of the insides of the safe deposit boxes of other customers. They subsequently created duplicate keys based on these images. Other members of the criminal network then used these duplicate keys to commit the thefts. The detainees then laundered the criminal proceeds through US-based bank accounts.
Cooper led the criminal network, directed the other members and used his US-based bank accounts to launder the illicit proceeds. Levin used his US-based bank accounts to procure camera equipment and to launder the proceeds. Smith directly conducted some of the thefts, traveling from the US to foreign countries to enter the targeted banks.
Source: US Department of Justice