Man stole $1 million in watches from work

MONROE, Conn. (WTNH) -- A watch repairman is arrested after a year long investigation. Police say he stole more than $1 million worth of timepieces from his job.

Police say the Stratford man swiped the watches from Victorinox Swiss Army in Monroe.

38-year-old Gilberto Nieves was in charge of the watch repair division at the Monroe company. Police say his position granted him access to the whole building, which is how they say he slowly smuggled out hundreds of watches over a one-year-period.

The company uncovered the large-scale theft while doing an inventory check. Police and the FBI got involved and learned that Gilberto had been selling the watches on eBay.

"The profits were actually coming from eBay," said Lt. Keith White, Monroe PD, "but they were selling them to various people around the country who would put up them on eBay sites."

Gilberto's family denies he stole from the company he worked for for 14 years.

"He was a company man, he liked to work for Swiss Army," said Michael Median, cousin.

"He is a laid back kind of person, family guy, never been in any trouble," said Martha Larrea, cousin.

Police say Gilberto was not acting alone. They say other employees were helping him steal the watches so they say more arrests are pending.

"There are other people involved. He had come up with a plan on how to slowly move product out of the building," said Lt. White. "There are other arrests that will be following."

The company declined an on-camera interview, but did release a statement saying: "We're supporting the police, local and federal authorities in the investigation."