A Brooklyn man was sentenced to prison for robbing a Williamsburg matzah factory as it prepared for Passover.
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Muntaquim Durant, 44, stole cash and checks worth over $94,000 from the Satmar Matzah Bakery on Broadway, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.
The Kings County Criminal Court sentenced Durant, a resident of Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights neighborhood, to two and a half to five years in prison for the crime.
Durant broke into the Williamsburg bakery on Feb. 28, five weeks before the start of Passover. The bakery was gearing up to make matzahs for the holiday at the time of the robbery, Gonzalez said in a statement.
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Surveillance footage showed Durant entering the building at around 9:50 a.m and searching through jackets on a coat rack. He then went upstairs, poured himself a coffee, and forced his way into a locked office. He left the room seconds later with what appeared to be a wad of cash and checks stuffed into his pockets, the district attorney’s office said.
An employee, who later found checks strewn around the floor of the office, saw that cash and checks were missing. The stolen cash amounted to $60,000 and the checks totaled $34,000.
A detective on the case used the surveillance footage to create a wanted poster, and other investigators identified Durant, who was wanted in connection with other burglaries. Durant was arrested by the NYPD during a routine traffic stop on March 15.
He was charged with grand larceny, illegal entry, criminal possession of stolen property and other charges. There were no hate crimes charges.
“This defendant brazenly broke into a religious institution that was gearing up to make matzahs before the start of a Jewish holiday. He was caught red handed and will now be held responsible,” Gonzalez said in a statement.
The criminal walked off with so much dough the factory had to close down til they got another delivery of flour.
Unfortunately the real crime is how much these matzoh factories charge for dry crackers.
This headline was an error. The thief did not rob the Matzah factory; he burglarized it, and perpetrated grand larceny.
That’s like the price of five pounds these days.
Did the bakery get all the money back??
Unlike the kosher matzah, the thief’s dough rose, then sunk and he was branded unkosher.
I guess he didn’t get the dough
What could a thief do with checks written out to the matzah bakery. Also, why would there be so much cash on hand? Don’t most businesses that purchase large orders pay by electronic payments, credit card, checks??