Brooklyn men allegedly stole over $30 million from foreign banks using high-tech equipment

(John McArthur/Unsplash)

By Curtis Brodner

(NEW YORK) Three Brooklyn men are facing racketeering charges after the Department of Justice (DOJ) accused them of participating in stealing $30 million of cash and other valuables from safe deposit boxes from banks in Eastern Europe.

Val Cooper, 56, Alex Levin, 52, and Garri Smith, 49, were arrested Tuesday morning for money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to violate the Travel Act — a law that forbids interstate and international travel in aid of racketeering enterprises.

The DOJ believes the alleged co-conspirators are part of a “sophisticated network of criminals” that used high-tech equipment to break into safety deposit boxes and then laundered the money through U.S. banks.

“This Office will hold accountable anyone who uses our financial system to commit fraud and theft here or abroad,” said acting U.S. Attorney Mark Lesko.

Cooper is the alleged leader of the plot, and the DOJ believes he used his bank account to launder some of the money stolen from Eastern Europe.

Levin allegedly purchased sophisticated medical cameras that were used to photograph the inside of lockboxes in order to produce duplicate keys. He also allegedly laundered some of the pilfered funds.

Smith allegedly flew to the countries to carry out the heists in person with co-conspirators abroad.

When FBI agents raided the three men’s Brooklyn apartments, they found safe deposit keys with no official markings, cash, jewelry and expensive handbags. The agents also found a borescope, the specialized medical camera used in the scheme, and a safe deposit box lock in a Brooklyn storage unit owned by Cooper.

The FBI worked with the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation and the governments of Azerbaijan, Latvia, Moldova, North Macedonia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan to carry out the investigation.

If convicted, the men could serve up to 20 years in prison.

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