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 The
Real ORC Founding Fathers - The Mafia in Long Island
Even the Mafia back in the 70's & 80's from "Goodfellas" movie about the '78
Lufthansa Heist - were committing ORC
Vincent Asaro, who is now on trial in Brooklyn in connection with the holdup
outside a terminal at Kennedy International Airport on a December night in 1978.
They made off with $6.25 million in cash, as well as the jewelry and German bank
notes. The Lufthansa heist, one of the biggest cash robberies in United States
history, went unsolved for decades.
In announcing the indictment of Mr. Asaro and several others last year, federal
prosecutors said they had finally been able to pursue the charges against the
men after developing several cooperating witnesses within the ranks of organized
crime, including Mr. Valenti.
Despite a movie (Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas") a book (Nicholas Pileggi's "Wiseguy")
and a library of articles about the robbery, neither Mr. Asaro, who has pleaded
not guilty, nor Mr. Valenti had been widely linked to the crime. Little of the
money was ever recovered.
The prosecution is something of a coda to an era when the Mafia was a more
visible, and more violent, force in New York City, and Mr. Valenti's remarks
took the courtroom back to those times. Mr. Valenti, a cousin of Mr. Asaro's,
spoke of his long history with the defendant and recounted not only the
Lufthansa scheme but also other feuds, crimes and escapades.
There was the holdup of a truck full of minks, which turned out to be a truck
filled with bras and shoes from Filene's Basement.
nytimes.com
Queens Apple Store worker steals nearly $1M in gift cards from employer: DA
A worker at a Queens Apple Store ripped off nearly $1 million in gift cards
from his employer, according to the Queens District Attorney's office.
Prosecutors said Ruben Profit, 24, tried to turn his own tidy profit by using
his tech skills to change the value of American Express and Visa gift cards, and
then used those to buy $992,000 worth of gift cards from the Apple Store in
Queens Center Mall.
When cops picked up Profit, he had 51 of the manipulated credit cards and
seven Apple gift cards valued at $2,000 each on him, authorities said.
Investigators said he told them he was selling the gift cards for $200 a pop
to another individual. The alleged fraud began in July. Profit was arraigned
Friday on charges of second-degree grand larceny, first-degree criminal
possession of a forged instrument and third-degree criminal possession of stolen
property. nydailynews.com
 Fencing
Operation: Seattle, WA: Police busts Beacon Hill couple with $150,000 of stolen
merchandise; purchased from shoplifters
Seattle police recovered more than 400 pairs of denim, not to mention other
items such as perfume, toiletries, purses and shoes - all of which are believed
to have been initially stolen, then purchased by a Beacon Hill married couple at
downtown open-air markets. Seattle police recovered 1,590 items, with a total
retail value of $150,000 from their home in Beacon Hill. Police also found
stolen loot in a storage locker rented by the couple. Most of the items came
from downtown retail locations. The Seattle Police Department reports that they
had an eye on the suspects - a 63-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman - since a
sweep through downtown in April as part of its 9.5 half blocks campaign.
Detectives have since been building a case on the couple who they believe had
been buying shoplifted goods at five-finger-discounts. Police said that the
couple would place orders for items, which shoplifters would then steal for
them. Detectives believe that the couple is responsible for "a significant
amount of trafficking in the downtown core."
mynorthwest.com
Atlanta, GA: Five men headed to prison in stolen ink cartridges;
hitting Office Max and Office Depot
Prosecutors believe the men, who were members or associates of the Broad Street
Boys gang in Atlanta, intended to use the stolen ink cartridges to produce
counterfeit money. "On twelve different occasions," officials said in the
statement, "one or more co-conspirators entered a retail store, filled large
garbage bags with ink cartridges from store shelves, and then fled without
paying." Those cartridges, prosecutors said, were sold to a fence. The fence,
identified as Jeffrey Chijioke Enujioke, 30, of College Park, used his
legitimate business at Atlanta Metro Mall as a front to move the stolen
property, according to the statement.
ajc.com
 Twin
Falls, ID: Police bust up an Organized Retail Crime Ring
Back in July a Loss Prevention worker for Home Depot passed along information to
the Twin Falls Police Department about a possible Organized Retail crime
operation. Meanwhile, in August, 29 year old Jeana Amero was interviewed while
in custody at the county jail. She told police how she and Michael Pulizzi would
steal items from stores, like Target, Walgreens and Harbor Freight. They would
steal dvd's from Albertsons then turn around and sell them to Hastings. One of
the schemes this group was running, is they would find receipts in the parking
lot Wal-Mart, enter the store, take those items off the shelf and walk up to the
return counter expecting to get cash. They would also come to the Home Depot,
find an expensive item such as a saw and replace the price tag with something
much cheaper. The two researched UPC codes to find matching codes from different
stores. Then they'd steal an item from one store and return it to the other. At
J.C. Penney, Sears, K-Mart and Macy's they stole clothing for personal use.
Amero also told police that Pulizzi would steal items for other people and sell
it to them for half the ticket price. Amero was arraigned Monday and her bond
has been set at $50,000.
kmvt.com
 Fort
Wayne, IN: Shoplifter hits Macy's 6 times
getting away with thousands in merchandise
Police were called to the Macy's store at Glenbrook Mall on Tuesday on a report
of a theft of clothing. There, store loss prevention associates told police a
man had walked in and gathered 13 items of clothing - some $1,000 worth - and
ran out of the store. The associates said the suspect is one they have been
looking for months, accused of similar heists over the last eight months. Police
believe the same suspect and an accomplice were behind similar thefts of
clothing from Macy's on Sept. 6, May 11, March 18, March 9 and Feb. 12 in which
the suspect and the accomplice commonly piled stacks of designer brand polo
shirts and other high-dollar items and walked out of the store; merchandise
totaling over $5,600.
wane.com |
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