Two armored truck drivers for Loomis and another person were arrested Thursday on federal charges related to a scheme in which they allegedly stole more than $1 million in cash, part of a shipment that was being transported for Bank of America in Los Angeles.
Cesar Yanez, 37, of Fontana, and Aldo Esquivel Vega, 28, of Pomona, were arrested this morning without incident by special agents with the FBI and officers with the Los Angeles Police Department, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
During search warrants executed at Yanez’s home, agents allegedly found about $85,000 in cash, prosecutors said.
A third person, Jovita Medina Guzman, 39, of San Bernardino, also was arrested today for allegedly helping her co-defendants hide and disperse the stolen funds and for being an accessory after the fact.
A four-count indictment, returned by a federal grand jury last week and unsealed today, alleges that Yanez and Vega, while employed by Loomis on June 27, were transporting a multi-million dollar shipment of cash for Bank of America when they stopped in a parking lot on West Adams Boulevard.
Vega electronically opened the rear doors of the armored car, which allowed Yanez to access the cash storage area of the vehicle, according to the indictment.
Yanez allegedly took about $1 million in cash from the armored car and placed it into a trash can that had been left in the parking by an as-yet-unidentified person, who later picked up the trash can and recovered the stolen money. Later, Guzman delivered some of the stolen money to Vega, federal prosecutors allege.
Yanez and Vega are each charged with conspiracy to commit bank larceny and bank larceny. Additionally, Yanez and Guzman are charged with possession of bank larceny proceeds, and Guzman is charged as an accessory after the fact to hinder and prevent her co-defendants’ apprehension, trial and punishment.
If convicted of the offenses alleged in the indictment, Yanez would face up to 25 years in federal prison; Vega and Guzman could receive up to 15-year terms.
Additionally, each of the defendants could be ordered to pay fines of as much as two times the loss suffered by Bank of America, prosecutors said.
— City News Service