STRATEGIC PARTNERS
January 13, 2002
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - A duffel bag stuffed with $20 bills was found in a Florida storage unit on Jan. 11, moving authorities closer to recovering all of the nearly $5 million allegedly stolen from ATMs in the New York City area by Michael Schwartz.
Schwartz, 36, was found dead of alcohol poisoning on Christmas Day in West Palm Beach, Fla. FBI agents on Jan. 9 arrested his roommate, Christopher Lacroix, and charged him with receipt and possession of stolen money (See story: Schwartz roommate is charged with concealing cash).
Lacroix led investigators to the storage facility. Agents would not disclose how much money was found in the duffel bag. More than $3.5 million - most of it found in an abandoned home in Boynton Beach, Fla. - had already been recovered since the investigation began.
Schwartz allegedly fled New Jersey in early December with $4,982,300 in cash stolen while Schwartz was employed filling ATMs for Humboldt Bank.
