Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. — A man suspected of stealing $5 million he was supposed to use to restock automated teller machines has been found dead in Florida.
Michael Schwartz, 36, had used an alias to rent an apartment that he shared with another man in West Palm Beach, Fla., authorities said Wednesday. The roommate, Chris Lacroix, found the body on Christmas Day.
Schwartz was identified through his fingerprints, but a cause of death had not been determined. Special Agent Bill Evanina, a spokesman for the FBI’s Newark office, said investigators in Florida suspect the man died of alcohol poisoning or some other complication brought on by heavy drinking.
Authorities have not recovered the missing money, which was all in $20 bills and was estimated to weigh 350 pounds.
Schwartz owned and operated Direct Connect ATM and Schwartz Armored LLC, two businesses he established within the last two years. He had a contract that required him to restock more than 160 stand-alone ATMs in nonbank locations throughout New York and New Jersey.
Evanina said officials are still trying to determine if Schwartz, who disappeared on Dec. 2, had any help in the scheme. Two of his employees and a girlfriend have been questioned but not detained.
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