FBI thwarts robbery, kidnapping plot

Three men were arrested and charged last week in federal court with conspiring to rob a Norwood check-cashing business in a plot that also involved kidnapping the store owner, a Canton resident.

FBI and Massachusetts State Police SWAT teams arrested John Salvucci, 65, of Medford, George Whalen, 55, of Winthrop, and James Chambers, 53, of Stoneham, in the early morning on Wednesday, January 25, following a round-the-clock investigation by the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force.

“The actions alleged in the complaint involved a dangerous and violent plot to commit a robbery and kidnap a store owner,” said U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz. “Thanks to the diligence and hard work of the investigative team, the plot was thwarted and the defendants now face federal criminal charges.”

“The victims targeted in this plot, and the community at large, were spared needless violence because of the resolve of the FBI, United States Attorney’s Office, Massachusetts State Police, Boston, Medford, Saugus, Somerville, Norwood, Canton and Malden Police Departments to ensure the plot never came to fruition,” said Richard DesLauriers, the FBI special agent in charge. “The commonwealth should derive comfort from our combined day-to-day efforts to prevent, detect and deter violent criminal activity, as exemplified by these arrests.”

The complaint alleges that the three defendants conspired to rob Forest Hills Check Cashing in Norwood. The plot allegedly involved a plan to kidnap the store owner from his Canton home in order to use the owner to help them commit the robbery.

A fourth individual, who had been recruited by Salvucci to help in the robbery, informed the FBI about the plot and agreed to cooperate in the investigation. In a series of recorded meetings, Salvucci told the cooperator that he, along with Whalen and Chambers, were going to rob the check cashing business because the defendants believed that the business carried a significant amount of cash.

Salvucci allegedly told the cooperator that the three defendants were going to case the Norwood business in anticipation of the robbery. On January 21, federal agents and law enforcement officers followed the three men as they traveled from north of Boston to the targeted business in Norwood. Agents and officers observed the three engage in various acts related to their gathering information about the business, including Whalen and Chambers entering the business itself.

If convicted on this charge, the three defendants each face up to 20 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nadine Pellegrini and Michael Crowley of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Feb 1 2012. Filed under News, Police & Fire. Both comments and pings are currently closed.