STRATEGIC PARTNERS
January 7, 2002
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. -- The FBI recovered more than half of the cash that Michael Schwartz is suspected of stealing from ATMs at an abandoned house here, according to the Associated Press.
Authorities found nearly $3 million, all in bundled $20 bills, over the weekend piled in four duffel bags on the floor of the home, said Alan Sadowski, a senior local FBI agent.
Authorities believe the money was taken by Schwartz, 36, of Jersey City, N.J. Schwartz, the owner of Direct Connect ATM and Schwartz Armored LLC, was supposed to restock approximately 140 ATMs in New York and New Jersey with the cash.
Schwartz was found dead on Christmas Day in a West Palm Beach apartment that he briefly shared with another man, Chris Lacroix. The cause of his death has not been determined, but investigators said they suspected it was related to drinking.
Lacroix, who told investigators he did not know Schwartz before he moved in on Dec. 11, led agents to the house where the money was found, Sadowski said. Lacroix also turned over $68,000 he had put in a Fidelity Federal safety deposit box in his name and led authorities to another unidentified individual who turned over $24,000 in missing bills
Investigators can only guess at the amount in the duffel bags because it will take automated counting machines to properly total the cash. Officials at Humboldt Bancorp, the California financial institution that reported $5 million missing on Dec. 7, say they are happy with the results of the investigation and are optimistic that investigators will find the rest of the stolen money. In the meantime, they expect to go through a long, formal process in retrieving the recovered millions now marked as evidence.
Lacroix has not been charged with a crime. Mike Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey, which is handling the case, said he could not comment on whether LaCroix or anyone else would be charged with a crime or what charges they could face.
