Chicago Man Charged with Robbing Berwyn Bank

A Chicago man suspected of robbing a Berwyn bank was apprehended Monday by alert police officers within minutes of the robbery. The arrest and a federal charge filed in connection with the robbery were announced by Cory B. Nelson, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

VALERIY V. KOUZNETSOV, 29, of Chicago, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago yesterday with one count of bank robbery, which is a felony offense.

According to the complaint, Kouznetsov was seen sitting on a bench in front of the Charter One Bank branch located at 6201 West Cermak in Berwyn prior to its opening. The complaint alleges that Kouznetsov entered the bank just as the manager unlocked the doors to open the bank for business. The complaint states that Kouznetsov approached a teller who recognized him as the same person who had robbed the bank a little more than a month earlier. Kouznetsov allegedly told the teller he had a gun as he made his demand for money, and, after receiving cash and a dye pack from the teller, left the bank on foot.

Police officers from the City of Berwyn and the Town of Cicero responded to the robbery and a short time later apprehended a man who matched the general description provided by witnesses both inside and outside the bank. The complaint states that the man taken into custody identified himself as Kouznetsov, that witnesses identified the man as the person they had seen in and in front of the bank around the time of the robbery, and that the arresting officers noted that his hands and shirt were stained with red dye.

Kouznetsov appeared yesterday before United States Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys to be formally charged and  was ordered held in federal custody pending his next court appearance, which is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Friday. If convicted of the charge filed against him, Kouznetsov faces a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Additional information about this and other Chicago area bank robberies, including downloadable photos, can be found online at the Bandit Tracker website, www.bandittrackerchicago.com.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Editor's Note: A copy of the criminal complaint filed in this case is available from the Chicago FBI press office at (312) 829-1199.