A JFK Airport warehouse worker used a forklift to steal more than $158,000 of Peruvian gold jewelry while on the job, federal officials allege.
Shakeem Smith, 31, of Queens, was indicted in Brooklyn Federal Court Wednesday on a stolen cargo charge, accused of swiping the jewelry from the LATAM Cargo warehouse at the airport.
Smith worked for Alliance Ground International as a cargo supervisor, and he was on the job Sept. 16, 2023, when the shipment came in, according to a criminal complaint.
The jewelry came from Lima, and was bound for a business in Philadelphia, but Smith had other plans, the complaint alleges. Surveillance footage shows him loading a blue cargo bin wrapped in plastic, which held the goods, into a larger container and placing it on a forklift, prosecutors allege.
He then drove the forklift to a ramp area at the airport, and back into the warehouse about a half-hour later, the feds allege. He’s seen on video removing a roll of plastic wrap, which authorities believe he used to rewrap the blue bin, prosecutors allege.
Smith moved the forklift to the front of the warehouse a short while later, took a bag out of the front cab and placed it into a mail slot, then clocked out for the night, the feds allege. He grabbed the bag and left, the feds allege.
Court documents
The shipment of gold jewelry (circled) is seen on a pallet at a JFK cargo warehouse. (Court documents)
When the bin made it to its destination, 3,746.01 grams of gold jewelry, valued at about $158,702, were missing, according to court documents.
Smith started making large cash ATM deposits over the next two months —$2,470 on Sept. 16, 2023; two deposits on Sept. 24 totaling $2,000; two more on Sept. 30 totaling $2,680; and a series of similar-sized deposits between October and November totaling more than $35,000, the feds allege.
His cell phone location records show a trip to the Diamond District in Midtown four days after the theft, and several trips to Queens pawn shops in the months that followed, according to court filings.
He quit his job with Alliance on Nov. 30, 2023, the feds say.
Smith was initially arrested on June 20, and released on $100,000 bond. Neither he nor his lawyer, Jeffrey Dahlberg of the Federal Defenders, returned messages seeking comment.
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