The sophisticated team of burglars hit banks and jewelry stores in Europe and the U.S., according to federal agents.
A sophisticated group of high-tech thieves stole $10 million in cash and jewelry during a two-year string of burglaries rivaling the antics of the "Ocean's Eleven" crew, according to authorities.
The Pejcinovic Enterprise ran rampant beginning in December 2016, hitting up jewelry stores and banks in the U.S. and Europe, according to an indictment against four of its members filed in Manhattan federal court last week.
Named were alleged ringleader Damir Pejcinovic, Gzimi Bojkovic, Adrian Fiseku and Elvis Cirikovic. The four were arrested last week and charged with several counts, including racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, bank burglary and interstate transportation of stolen property.
The "charges bring to an end an alleged criminal enterprise whose activity spanned more than a decade and included more than a dozen individual incidents that occurred across the United States and around the world," said FBI Special Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. in a statement.
The alleged crime syndicate operated in New York City, California Los Angeles, Massachusetts, Maine and Philadelphia.
In March 2008, Cirikovic, Pejcinovic and Bojkovic stole $2.5 million worth of jewelry from a Manhattan shop, according to the indictment. Bojkovic and Fiseku allegedly robbed jewelry stores in Manhattan and L.A., making off with a total of $5 million. Pejcinovic and Cirikovic also tried to steal $10 million worth of jewelry from a business in Germany, according to the document.
“This burglary crew was incredibly sophisticated,” said assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Ken-Wei Chan. “They used power tools, sledgehammers, jackhammers and other tools to break into jewelry stores, banks and safes within those locations.”
If the job needed rooftop access “they had people with acrobatic capabilities,” Chan said. “If the burglary crew needed somebody with a lot of strength with the ability to break through walls ... they had members of the crew who were incredibly strong."
The men have pleaded not guilty and are being held without bail.
RELATED STORIES
