Brinks Employee Charged with Theft of $750,000

Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, announced that Rodolfo Ravelo, 45, was indicted on a charge theft of property from a bank, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2113(b).

According to the charges in the Indictment and the facts set forth in the criminal complaint, on June 8, 2009, Ravelo, an armored car driver employed by Brinks, made a money pickup from a Wachovia Bank currency center. Ravelo then returned that money to a Brinks facility. An audit of the money returned by Ravelo revealed that approximately $750,000 was missing.

Surveillance film from Wachovia showed Ravelo entering the rear cargo area of his truck with containers of currency and subsequently exiting the cargo area with a dark colored bag, which he placed in the driver’s compartment of the truck. Upon arriving at the Brinks facility, Ravelo informed a coworker that he had a toothache and would not be able to complete his shift. Ravelo then left the facility carrying the same bag he had placed in the driver’s compartment of his Brinks truck at Wachovia.

After discovering that the money was missing, investigators determined that Ravelo had left the United States on a flight to Nicaragua a few hours after leaving the Brinks facility. Ravelo was later arrested in Costa Rica, and is in the process of being extradited to the United States.

Mr. Sloman commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Gilfarb.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.