Tribeca Super Charged in Jewel and Art Thefts

The 62-year-old superintendent of a Tribeca building on Washington Street was sentenced today three to nine years in state prison for stealing paintings and jewelry from building residents. According to the Manhattan DA, Mihaly Kovacsezics took art worth $13,365 from one resident, whose elderly aunt he befriended prior to her death, and $23,380 in jewelry from another resident when he was entrusted to oversee a delivery at the resident's apartment. "The defendant is a conman who befriended people in order to steal from them," said District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. "His scheming should remind us how susceptible we all are, even in our inner circles, to those intent on committing crimes for their own profit. I commend our excellent prosecutors and investigators for bringing this defendant to justice." Additionally Kovacsezics agreed to sell 13 pieces of jewelry, worth $60,475, for a friend and business associate under an agreement that he would receive a commission from the sale. Shortly after Kovacsezics accepted the jewelry, however, he ceased all contact with the friend and didn't return the gems or give the owner money from its sale. Shortly after these thefts, Kovacsezics fled but was found trying to leave the country on February 22, 2012. He is charged with two counts of grand larceny in the third degree and one count of grand larceny in the second degree.