An Anchorage man has been extradited from Mexico to face charges of theft of bank funds stemming from a theft from the KeyBank vault in 2011 and is due to appear in court on Thursday morning to face the charges, U.S Attorney Bryan Schroder reports.

Schroder announced in a press release on Wednesday, “Gerardo Adan Cazarez Valenzuela, a/k/a “Gary Cazarez,” 33, of Anchorage, was named in the 2011
superseding indictment charging him with theft of bank funds. Cazarez has been extradited from Mexico and will have his initial appearance in the case in Anchorage on Sept. 27, 2018, a 10:30 am.”

According to documents from the FBI investigation, Valenzuela stole approximately $4.3 million from KeyBank on July 29th while employed as the Cash Vault Services Manager. Following the theft, he packed the cash into luggage and chartered a plane to Washington. After arriving in Washington, Cazarez then bought a car and drove to Mexico.

When Cazarez arrived at the border checkpoint at the U.S.-Mexico border, he was arrested by Mexican authorities after a random search of his luggage revealed $3.8 million in cash along with firearms and ammunition.

“Cazarez was charged and convicted in Mexico of criminal offenses analogous to money laundering and illegal possession of firearms for smuggling the cash and firearms into Mexico,” Schroder revealed.

Following his arrest in 2011, Cazarez was convicted on the charges and was imprisoned in Mexico. Following the completion of his sentence, Cazarez was extradited by to Alaska to face charges in Anchorage.

Cazarez faces up to 30 years in prison for the theft of the bank funds and can be fined as much as $1 million.

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