A man dubbed the “Incognito Bandit” was sentenced in federal court in Boston Friday for armed bank robbery.
Albert Taderera, 36, of Brighton, was sentenced to 34 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $11,561. In January 2019, Taderera pleaded guilty to one count of armed bank robbery.
Tadera was charged with robbery in connection to an October 2016 heist at a bank in Wayland, Massachusetts. He was arrested on March 25, 2017, prior to boarding a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, leaving from Dulles International Airport.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said between February 2015 and March 2017, a robber, dubbed the "Incognito Bandit," was responsible for 16 bank robberies in the Metro-West and Greater Boston area. In most of the robberies, the robber was disguised in a dark hooded sweatshirt, dark face mask/sunglasses covering his face, dark gloves and dark clothing.
All of the robberies occurred in suburban settings where banks were freestanding and featured adjacent wooded areas or foliage. After many of these robberies, witnesses observed the robber leave the bank and enter the wooded areas. Witnesses also observed the robber flee the area in a black BMW sedan. Based on these similarities, investigators believed that the individual driving the black BMW was responsible for the robberies.
The FBI discovered Taderea booked a flight from Dulles to Addis Ababe, Ethiopia, scheduled to leave on March 24, 2017. It was later determined he rebooked his flight and planned to head to Johannesburg.
