2 men due in court following arrests tied to burglaries during FBI 47th str., Diamond District, raid

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Two men accused of participating in a series of burglaries at the homes of professional athletes are set to appear in court Wednesday in Downtown Brooklyn, ABC News 7 reports.
 

Their arrests followed FBI raids in Manhattan’s Diamond District.  Authorities executed a search warrant at 75 West 47th Street around 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday. This id the jewelry store ZOLAND.
 

Dimitriy Nezhinskiy, 43, and Juan Villar, 48, have been charged with conspiracy to receive stolen property as part of an alleged fencing operation connected to South American theft groups behind a string of burglaries targeting professional athletes, including Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.
 

The two men are accused of purchasing luxury items tied to burglaries across the country and reselling them from a pawn shop in the Diamond District. They allegedly bought stolen goods from Bryan Leandro Herrera Maldonado, who is accused of committing 16 residential robberies across the U.S. between 2019 and 2020. Nezhinskiy was arrested Tuesday in New Jersey, while Villar was apprehended in Manhattan.
 

"As alleged, the defendants created an illicit market and fueled demand for burglaries by South American Theft Groups and other crews around the country by purchasing stolen watches, jewelry, and other luxury items, then reselling them in their New York City store," said United States Attorney John Durham.
 

Authorities claim that, for nearly five years, Nezhinskiy and Villar acted as illegal brokers, selling stolen luxury items obtained from burglary crews based in South America. The stolen goods—including jewelry, watches, handbags, and other luxury items—were transported from homes outside New York into the state, according to prosecutors.
 

The indictment states that phone records and video surveillance link Nezhinskiy to at least two members of a four-man burglary crew believed to be involved in the December 9, 2024, burglary of Burrow’s residence.
 

An undercover detective conducted seven controlled sales of purported stolen property, including high-end handbags and luxury accessories, to Nezhinskiy or Villar, or both, at their business location in Manhattan’s Diamond District between October 2022 and January 2024. During these transactions, the undercover detective told the defendants that the items were stolen and received cash in return, the indictment reveals.
 

During Tuesday’s search on West 47th Street, authorities seized large quantities of suspected stolen property, including dozens of high-end watches and jewelry. Law enforcement also recovered substantial amounts of cash and marijuana.
 

Simultaneously, law enforcement executed a search warrant at storage units belonging to Nezhinskiy in New Jersey, where they discovered an additional cache of suspected stolen property. Items recovered included luxury goods, high-end handbags, wine, sports memorabilia, jewelry, artwork, and power tools commonly associated with burglaries and opening safes.



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