FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A man accused of robbing two South Florida banks claimed that he needed the money because of a sick relative, according to the FBI.
"My grandson is sick. I need $40,000 now, " Abraham Maghen told a teller Tuesday at a TD Bank on West Palmetto Park Road in Boca Raton, according to a federal criminal affidavit.
After handing the teller a note, Maghen yelled, "Hurry up. He's going to die," the affidavit said.
The teller gave Maghen, 26, about $1,800, which included a GPS anti-theft locating device, Special Agent Joseph Oliver wrote in the affidavit.
FBI agents tracked Maghen to a home in the 2600 block of North 66th Avenue in Hollywood. Maghen told agents that he drove to Boca Raton to start a graffiti removal company, Oliver wrote.
When agents searched his home, they found a police scanner and two pairs of ear buds believed to have been used in a May 2 robbery at a Chase Bank branch in Pembroke Pines, the affidavit said.
Agents also noticed that Maghen had a news story about a bank robbery on an open internet browser on his computer, the affidavit said.
The landlord at Maghen's home said that he recently moved to South Florida from New York and was only supposed to stay with her for a month as a favor to a friend.
Andrea Itzkowitz-Martinez said Maghen ended up staying at her home for two months and asked to borrow her car before the Boca Raton robbery was reported.
"He said he didn't want to put mileage on because it's a lease," she said.
Itzkowitz-Martinez said she helped get Maghen a job in the loan department at a bank, but he ended up getting fired.
"He was always in and out," she said.
"OK. Did he tell you why he got fired?" Forney asked.
"He was late to work all the time," Itzkowitz-Martinez said.
Less than an hour after the May 2 robbery in Pembroke Pines, Maghen spent $2,755 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, the FBI said.
During a search of Maghen’s room, agents found a mask resembling an old man, which they believe was used during both robberies, the affidavit said.
Maghen was arrested Tuesday and is in federal custody in connection with the robberies.