Brockton brothers accused of insider bank robbery

Two brothers from Brockton are accused of simulating a bank robbery on Tuesday to give a Boston bank employee an excuse to steal $200,000 from the vault.

“We have seen time and time again how employees hatched seemingly clever plans to steal from their workplace, and then we saw how these supposedly clever plans were usually exposed very quickly,” said Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden. “The immediate suspicion of the bank employees and the extremely effective work of the investigative authorities involved resulted in these brothers having to answer these charges in court today.”

Justin, 32, and Jenel Flounoury, 28, were charged in West Roxbury Municipal Court with theft and conspiracy in connection with their alleged plan to pocket $197,146 in cash at Energy Credit Union, where Jenel Flounoury worked as a teller.

Judge John Garland ordered bail of $20,000 for both and scheduled preliminary hearings for October 30. If they post bail, both must stay away from the credit union.

Just before 1 p.m. Tuesday, Boston police and members of the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force responded to a report of a robbery in progress at the credit union at 156 Spring Street.

According to a statement from the prosecutor, Jenel Flounoury told police that just minutes earlier, an unknown man – who prosecutors say is actually his brother – came to his counter with a note demanding that he “hand over the money.” The teller then turned around, went into the main vault and put all the cash into a blue ATM bag and did as he was told on the note. The “unknown male” robber then fled the scene.

But the entire incident seemed highly suspicious to the credit union's chief financial officer. He reportedly told police that Jenel Flounoury's behavior did not comply with procedures for such situations. Specifically, he did not check the cash drawer, but went straight to the safe without being instructed to do so and handed out more money than was requested. In addition, the cashier had previously been fired for violating company policy and was only rehired last month.

Based on this information, investigators followed Janel Founoury to his Brockton home, where they allegedly saw both brothers burning what appeared to be clothing on a grill. Investigators obtained a search warrant and searched the home at 1:45 a.m. Wednesday and allegedly found the cash.