Brooklyn Murder Investigation Uncovers Fraud, Theft Ring
An investigation into the double homicide of a Brooklyn couple leads authorities to a theft and fraud ring.
The Brooklyn district attorney's office says the still unsolved killing of Mark Schwartz and his wife, Christina Petrowski, in 2008 led to the indictment of four people and three corporations on charges of money laundering, mortgage fraud and identity theft.
Authorities say they believe the four charged worked with the couple on an elaborate fraud scheme that netted more than a million dollars.
They say the operation reached Queens, Long Island, New Jersey and Delaware.
"We allege that in order to launder the stolen money the defendants used fraudulent documents to open scores of bank accounts at different financial institutions next they began draining and closing accounts while simultaneously opening other accounts and engaged in a seemingly endless series of withdrawals and transfer of funds," said Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes.
Authorities say three of those charged turned on the couple and started stealing from Schwartz's law firm.
Both Schwartz and his wife were found shot in the head in their Marine Park home in July 2008.
No weapon was found, there was no sign of forced entry, and the couple's dog was tied up in the backyard, leading police to believe the killings were carried out by someone the victims knew.
UPDATE
Two attempted murder suspects from New York City were captured in Wilkes-Barre within five hours on Friday. Keon Reid, 23, and a 15-year old male juvenile, both of Brooklyn, were arrested separately but without incident at a residence in the first block of Gates Street in South Wilkes-Barre, according to Wilkes-Barre Police Lt. Paul Middleton. He did not believe the two suspects were related.
Reid and the teenager fled from New York to Wilkes-Barre earlier this week after being involved in an attempted murder shooting in the early morning hours of Feb. 16 in Brooklyn, Middleton said. Once they arrived in town they began staying with two women, believed to be their girlfriends, at the Gates Street home.
