4 Charged in Jewelry Store Heists Totaling $10M+

The men allegedly were part of a crew that pulled off more than a dozen burglaries over an 11-year span, including the brazen New Year’s Eve 2016 job in New York.

Michelle Graff michelle.graff@nationaljeweler.com

New York—Four members of an international burglary crew who allegedly stole more than $10 million in jewels from stores in the United States and Europe over an 11-year period have been arrested.

Damir Pejcinovic, 44, 36-year-old Gzimi Bojkovic (aka Jimmy), 35-year-old Adrian Fiseku and Elvis Cirikovic, 35, were taken into custody Oct. 24 and charged in an indictment unsealed the same day.

A photo of three of the four men charged provided by the Jewelers Security Alliance

The indictment alleges that the four men were part of a crew dubbed the “Pejcinovic Enterprise”—named after ringleader Damir (aka Damian or “CoCo”)—who stole from, or attempted to steal from, a total of 16 jewelry stores and banks in the United States and Europe between 2006 and 2017.

Members of the Pejcinovic gang allegedly staked out jewelry stores before they burglarized them, observing employees’ patterns and determining where they could break in.

They disabled security systems, jammed cell phone and cut phone lines while using power tools and sledgehammers to bash into businesses and destroy safes, later fencing what they stole and dividing the proceeds.

In a report aired Tuesday on “Good Morning America,” ABC News likened the crew to a “real-life Ocean’s 11.”

WATCH: GMA Reports on the “Real-Life” Ocean’s 11 Burglary Gang
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The 15-page indictment includes a long list of the Pejcinovic Enterprise’s alleged crimes, with the highest profile among them perhaps being the New Year’s Eve 2016 robbery in Manhattan’s Diamond District.

That jewelry theft made national headlines because the suspects waited until the stroke of midnight to break into the New York office of KGK Jewelry, which holdings include high-end brand Gregg Ruth. KGK’s office is located less than a mile from where millions of revelers—and thousands of cops—were ringing in the new year in Times Square.

This is a security camera still from the Dec. 31, 2016 robbery in Manhattan’s Diamond District that has been linked to an international burglary crew dubbed the “Pejcinovic Enterprise.” (Photo provided by Jewelers Security Alliance)

Other notable crimes connected to the crew include a March 2008 burglary in Manhattan that netted them $2.5 million in merchandise, a February 2011 heist in which $3 million was snatched from Broadway Gold Center in downtown Los Angeles—in that jewelry theft, crew members allegedly tunneled into the store—and a $2 million job that also took place in the City of Angels just last March.

According

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to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Pejcinovic, Bojkovic, Fiseku and Cirikovic (aka “Gorilla”) each face one count of racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to commit interstate transport of stolen property and bank burglary, which carries a maximum sentence of five years.

Pejcinovic, Bojkovic and Fiseku also are charged with one count of interstate transportation of stolen property, for which they could spend up to 10 years behind bars.

These four suspects are being tried in New York federal court, as the case involves the transportation of stolen property across state lines.

Officials noted that the investigation into the burglary ring is ongoing.

Michelle Graffis the editor-in-chief at National Jeweler, directing the publication’s coverage both online and in print.