feds – New York Daily News

Two Queens men were indicted Friday for swiping $1 million from ATMs in the Bronx, authorities said.

Ramdeo Balliram, 44, and Leonardo Oritz, 52, are accused of pilfering the cash on 23 occasions over the course of two years, prosecutors claim.

Both were released on a $100,000 bond after an arraignment in Manhattan Federal Court. A judge imposed a curfew on both and location monitoring, authorities said.

Between March 2021 and January, Balliram and Oritz traveled to the Bronx late at night or early in the morning — typically over the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge in two cars — to break into businesses outside of working hours with “sophisticated tools,” court documents allege.

“After breaking into the stores, the burglars force open the ATM and steal all the money inside. The burglars appear to often spend close to several hours at each burglary site while attempting to pry open each ATM using sophisticated tools,” Det. Kenneth Hines wrote in papers accompanying the indictment.

“On certain occasions where the burglars are unable to open the ATM and remove its contents, they have stolen the entire ATM,” according to court papers.

They figured out which machines were recently replenished with cash by following an armored van that routinely refilled ATMs for an FDIC-insured bank headquartered in Delaware, court records state.

The duo is also accused of stealing from cash registers and grabbing cigarettes, alcohol, and lottery tickets while they were at it. The feds say they stole video recording software to cover their tracks.

“The relentless efforts of this Office and our law enforcement partners have finally put an end to the burglaries and thefts allegedly perpetrated by the defendants, and we will continue to be diligent in seeking justice for those affected by these crimes,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.

Balliram and Oritz are each charged with conspiracy to commit bank theft and bank theft. They face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Ortiz’s lawyer declined comment. Balliram’s lawyer could not be reached.