A man who stole roughly $4.3 million from an Anchorage bank in 2011 and was caught days later traveling in Mexico with the cash has been extradited back to the United States, according to federal prosecutors.
Gerardo Adan Cazarez Valenzuela, also known as Gary Cazarez, had been serving time in Mexico for a conviction similar to money laundering, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska said in a release.
Valenzuela was a cash vault services manager for KeyBank when, according to federal prosecutors, he stole millions in cash from a KeyBank location in 2011. A Daily News report at the time details how authorities believe Valenzuela stole the money and his route to Mexico before his arrest at a security checkpoint.
On July 29, 2011, Valenzuela walked into the bank vault pushing a rolling cart with three large computer boxes, the bank’s security footage showed. He turned off the lights and started putting cash into the boxes, according to the report, citing an FBI special agent’s affidavit filed in federal court.
He drove home with the boxes and transferred the cash into several suitcases, according to the report. He then took a private charter flight, arranged two days earlier, and flew to Seattle.
Once there, Valenzuela got into a cab and asked the driver if he knew where Valenzuela could buy a gun, according to the report. The driver took Valenzuela to an "unknown place," the report said, where Valenzuela bought a handgun and AK-47 with $4,000 in cash.
Valenzuela and his girlfriend […]
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