Brothers, Others Accused in $1 Million High-School Computer Heist

Editor’s Note: We bring this already-published article back in case you missed it.

Three Yorktown residents and a Bronx man were arrested Sept. 2 in connection with the disappearance of 1,200 MacBook Air laptops worth more than $1 million that were en route to two New Jersey high schools.

According to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, a driver for a shipping company went from Yorktown Heights to Massachusetts to pick up a shipment of Apple MacBook Air computers. Anton Saljanin took his brother Gjon Saljanin with him.

The computers were destined for two high schools in New Jersey. But Saljanin reported to the Yorktown Police Department Jan. 15, 2014 that his truck had been broken into and the laptops were gone.

For about three months afterward, police said, a Yorktown resident who was a friend of Saljanin sold a bunch of MacBook Airs in plain brown wrappers far below market price, with the help of a co-worker.

Police uncovered the scheme with detective work that included interviews and analysis of video surveillance footage and cell phone records, Bharara said.

He praised the Yorktown Police Department, the Westchester County Police, the NYPD, the FBI and the Bronx DA in a press release.

Here’s Bharara’s full statement:

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Diego Rodriguez, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Daniel McMahon, the Chief of the Yorktown Police Department, today announced the unsealing of a Complaint charging four defendants with participating in a scheme to steal, transport, and sell a shipment of approximately 1,200 computers, valued at over $1 million, that were bound for two public high schools in New Jersey.

All four defendants were arrested this morning and will be presented in White Plains federal court today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Margaret Smith.

As alleged in the ComplaintAs the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth below constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.

unsealed today in White Plains federal court:

On or about January 15, 2014, ANTON SALJANIN, a driver for a shipping company, drove a truck from Yorktown Heights, New York, to a technology company located in Massachusetts to pick up a shipment of approximately 1,200 Apple MacBook Air computers. ANTON SALJANIN brought his brother, GJON SALJANIN, with him. The computers were being shipped to two public high schools located in New Jersey, and were valued at over $1 million. The next morning, ANTON SALJANIN reported to the Yorktown Police Department that the truck had been stolen from a parking lot located in Yorktown Heights.

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Later that day, ANTON SALJANIN reported to Yorktown Police that he had been driving around looking for the truck when he happened to spot it from the highway in a parking lot in Danbury, Connecticut. The truck would not have been visible in the Danbury parking lot to a driver passing by on the highway. Furthermore, historical cell site data for ANTON SALJANIN’s cellphone contradicts his claims about the route he took to look for the truck.

Yorktown Police detectives examined the truck and found that a window had been broken. The detectives found broken glass on the scene in the Danbury parking lot but found no broken glass on the scene in the Yorktown Heights parking lot, suggesting that the window had been broken at the Danbury parking lot rather than at the Yorktown Heights parking lot.

During interviews with the Yorktown Police, ANTON SALJANIN and GJON SALJANIN claimed that on the night of January 15, 2014, they drove directly from a convenience store outside of Yorktown Heights to the Yorktown Heights parking lot. Security camera footage from various locations in Yorktown Heights shows that a truck matching the description of the truck driven by the SALJANIN brothers departed from their claimed route, and instead traveled in the direction of the residence of UJKA VULAJ, a long-time friend of ANTON SALJANIN.

The video surveillance footage also shows that the duration of the detour corresponds to the approximate length of time it would have taken to drive to VULAJ’s residence, unload the computers from the truck, and return to the route to the Yorktown Heights parking lot.

From in or about January 2014 through at least in or about April 2014, VULAJ and a co-worker, CARLOS CACERES, sold at least dozens of Apple MacBook Air computers. They sold the computers, which had a retail value of approximately $1,000, for far below the market price. VULAJ and CACERES charged $500 to $800 in cash for each computer, and handed over each computer in plain brown cardboard packaging.

Count One of the Complaint charges all four defendants, ANTON SALJANIN, a/k/a “Tony,” GJON SALJANIN, UJKA VULAJ, a/k/a “Tito,” and CARLOS CACERES, with conspiring to commit theft from an interstate shipment, interstate transportation of stolen property, and receipt, possession, and sale of stolen property.

Count Two of the Complaint charges ANTON SALJANIN, GJON SALJANIN, and VULAJ with stealing property with a value of at least $1,000 from an interstate shipment, and aiding and abetting such theft.

Count Three of the Complaint charges ANTON SALJANIN, GJON SALJANIN, and VULAJ with transporting in interstate commerce stolen property with a value of at least $5,000, and aiding and abetting such transport.

Count Four of the Complaint charges VULAJ and CACERES with receiving, possessing, and selling stolen property with a value of at least $5,000, and aiding and abetting such receipt, possession, and sale.

Charts containing the charges against the defendants and the maximum penalties they face, as well as the defendants’ ages and residences, are attached. The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendants would be determined by the judge.

Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI, the Yorktown Police Department, the Westchester County Police Department, and the New York City Police Department. Mr. Bharara also thanked the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office for its ongoing assistance in the case. This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant United States Attorneys Won Shin, Benjamin Allee, and Scott Hartman are in charge of the prosecutions.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.