01-13-2005, 05:35 AM
Looks like investigators made some progress on this Brooklyn-based Russian awards dealer robbery case.
Here's recent article from New York Post:
"JEWEL HEIST BUSTS
By MICHAEL WHITE and KATI CORNELL SMITH
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January 11, 2005 -- The feds yesterday busted a ring of violent robbers linked to the Russian mob who netted $4 million in a string of major heists — including $1.5 million in antiques from a dealer's home and a $1 million smash-and-grab at an Upper East Side jewelry store, the feds said.
Authorities have arrested five accused ring members — including the appropriately named mastermind of the antique heist, Oleg Grabsky — on an indictment unsealed in Brooklyn federal court yesterday. The FBI is hunting for two more suspects.
In their biggest heist, crew members lowered themselves from the roof of a six-story building in Sheepshead Bay onto a Russian antiquities dealer's terrace and forced their way through the sliding glass doors.
Describing the harrowing Aug. 8, 2002 robbery, victim Dmitry ****** told The Post he and his girlfriend were tied up for two hours while robbers ransacked his apartment and made-off with antique swords, rare coins and Russian military medals.
"We were both thinking we were about to die," said ******, who operates a mail-order business from his home and has since moved to New Jersey.
"They punched me with the gun. They broke my lip. There was nothing you could do," ****** said.
Grabsky, 34, a former neighbor of ******, had hundreds of books about coin collecting and boxes of old coins at the home he shares with his parents.
He was held without bail.
Grabsky's mother maintained her son was innocent, adding she had no idea why he was arrested.
"They took him out like he was a killer," she said. " I don't believe this could happen."
Two others accused of helping with this scheme — Gidon Abramov, 37, and Artur "Lisiy" Drubetskiy, 32 — were nabbed in November.
The feds have charged Abramov and Drubetskiy with orchestrating the heist of 55 pieces of jewelry worth $1 million in a noon armed-robbery at Michael Ashton Fine Jewelry, at 933 Madison Ave., on July 16, 2004.
DNA tests linked Abramov to blood found in the store, where employees said one of the robbers smashed his fist through a glass cabinet, authorities said.
The Upper East Side store is one of at least three jewelry merchants targeted — including one in Wisconsin — according to the indictment.
Also arraigned yesterday was Dmitry Lerner, 43, who was held without bail for allegedly stealing $333,000 in belongings from a businessman in New Jersey.
Another ring member, Susan Songaila — a k a Susan Karamian — was released on $300,000 bail in the alleged robbery of an elderly woman. "
Link to NYPost article:
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/38321.htm
William
Here's recent article from New York Post:
"JEWEL HEIST BUSTS
By MICHAEL WHITE and KATI CORNELL SMITH
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
January 11, 2005 -- The feds yesterday busted a ring of violent robbers linked to the Russian mob who netted $4 million in a string of major heists — including $1.5 million in antiques from a dealer's home and a $1 million smash-and-grab at an Upper East Side jewelry store, the feds said.
Authorities have arrested five accused ring members — including the appropriately named mastermind of the antique heist, Oleg Grabsky — on an indictment unsealed in Brooklyn federal court yesterday. The FBI is hunting for two more suspects.
In their biggest heist, crew members lowered themselves from the roof of a six-story building in Sheepshead Bay onto a Russian antiquities dealer's terrace and forced their way through the sliding glass doors.
Describing the harrowing Aug. 8, 2002 robbery, victim Dmitry ****** told The Post he and his girlfriend were tied up for two hours while robbers ransacked his apartment and made-off with antique swords, rare coins and Russian military medals.
"We were both thinking we were about to die," said ******, who operates a mail-order business from his home and has since moved to New Jersey.
"They punched me with the gun. They broke my lip. There was nothing you could do," ****** said.
Grabsky, 34, a former neighbor of ******, had hundreds of books about coin collecting and boxes of old coins at the home he shares with his parents.
He was held without bail.
Grabsky's mother maintained her son was innocent, adding she had no idea why he was arrested.
"They took him out like he was a killer," she said. " I don't believe this could happen."
Two others accused of helping with this scheme — Gidon Abramov, 37, and Artur "Lisiy" Drubetskiy, 32 — were nabbed in November.
The feds have charged Abramov and Drubetskiy with orchestrating the heist of 55 pieces of jewelry worth $1 million in a noon armed-robbery at Michael Ashton Fine Jewelry, at 933 Madison Ave., on July 16, 2004.
DNA tests linked Abramov to blood found in the store, where employees said one of the robbers smashed his fist through a glass cabinet, authorities said.
The Upper East Side store is one of at least three jewelry merchants targeted — including one in Wisconsin — according to the indictment.
Also arraigned yesterday was Dmitry Lerner, 43, who was held without bail for allegedly stealing $333,000 in belongings from a businessman in New Jersey.
Another ring member, Susan Songaila — a k a Susan Karamian — was released on $300,000 bail in the alleged robbery of an elderly woman. "
Link to NYPost article:
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/38321.htm
William
