Bethlehem Man Charged with Six Bank Robberies in Pennsylvania and New Jersey
| U.S. Attorney’s Office September 27, 2012 |
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced the filing of criminal charges against Fawzi Atra, age 43, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
The criminal information filed today in the U.S. District Court in Scranton alleges that Atra committed the following robberies in April 2012:
- KNBT Bank, located at 2170 Union Boulevard, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on April 3, 2012;
- PNC Bank, located at 307 West Route 70, Marlton, New Jersey, on April 4, 2012;
- PNC Bank, located at 942 West Street Road, Warminster, Pennsylvania, on April 11, 2012;
- PNC Bank, located at 800 Denow Road, Unit F, Pennington, New Jersey, on April 14, 2012;
- QNB Bank, located at 901 South West End Boulevard, Quakertown, Pennsylvania, on April 17, 2012; and
- Essa Bank & Trust, located at 601 Route 940, Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, on April 19, 2012.
A police officer with the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department arrested Atra shortly after the Essa Bank & Trust robbery on April 19, 2012. An FBI special agent filed a criminal complaint charging Atra with that robbery, and he has been detained in federal custody since his arrest.
If convicted, the maximum sentence for each of the offenses charged is 20 years imprisonment.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department; the Richland Township, Pennsylvania Police Department; the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Police Department; the Evesham Township, New Jersey Police Department; the Hopewell, New Jersey Police Department; and the Warminster, Pennsylvania Police Department. Prosecution has been assigned to Assistant United States Attorney John Gurganus.