Pawn shop operators accused of running fencing operation may have $5M in stolen property: DOJ

Two men accused of acting as the middlemen to sell luxury items burgled from wealthy homeowners likely possessed $5 million in stolen property, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Dimitriy Nezhinskiy and Juan Villar were charged with conspiracy and receipt of stolen property in connection with a rash of burglaries that police have blamed on South American theft crews.

They pleaded not guilty Wednesday in a Brooklyn, New York, federal court.

Prosecutors said they are still sorting through the spoils of search warrants at the men’s pawn shop in Manhattan’s Diamond District and various storage units in New Jersey but said the men likely possessed $5 million in stolen property, including wine, art, jewelry, watches, handbags and sports memorabilia.

“They have created a marketplace that promotes residential burglaries of homes across the United States,” prosecutor Michael Maffei said in court.

Prosecutors sought pretrial detention, but Magistrate Judge Lara Eshkenazi agreed to release Nezhinskiy on a $1 million bond secured by his father. Nezhinskiy will not go free right away but remain detained until his father obtains liens on his property. Once he is released, Nezhinskiy must remain on home confinement.

The judge agreed to consider releasing Villar but said the $250,000 bond suggested was too low.

“I think you need to come up with a better package,” Eshkanazi said.

Villar’s wife, a New York City public school teacher, agreed to secure at least part of the bond but her husband must remain detained until he comes up with more money.

Nezhinskiy, 43, the owner of the pawn shop, and Villar, 48, an employee, were arrested on Tuesday. The indictment alleges that for almost five years, they served as unlawful brokers to sell stolen luxury items by purchasing them from burglary crews based out of South America, according to prosecutors.

Nezhinskiy has been linked to part of the crew believed to have been involved in the burglary that occurred at Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s Ohio home last year, according to prosecutors.

During a search Tuesday at the men’s pawn shop on West 47th Street, authorities seized large quantities of suspected stolen property — including dozens of high-end watches and jewelry — as well as recovering large quantities of cash and marijuana, prosecutors said.

Simultaneously, law enforcement executed a search warrant at storage units belonging to Nezhinskiy in New Jersey where an additional cache of suspected stolen property was found, prosecutors said. From inside Nezhinskiy’s storage units, law enforcement recovered large quantities of luxury goods and clothing, including “high-end handbags, wine, sports memorabilia, jewelry, artwork and power tools consistent with those commonly used in burglaries and opening safes,” prosecutors said in a press release.

If convicted of receipt of stolen goods, the defendants face up to 10 years in prison, the DOJ said.