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Sufyan A. Abdullah, 54, of Newark, handed the teller in the first bank a note on July 8 "claiming to have multiple firearms and threatening a 'mass shooting'," U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
He left empty-handed, the U.S. attorney said on Thursday, July 20.
Abdullah, formerly of Paterson, entered the second bank on July 15 and "placed an object which he claimed to be an explosive device on the counter in front of a teller, demanding money and threatening to blow up the bank," Sellinger said.
"The teller gave Abdullah cash, and Abdullah said he would blow up the bank if anyone followed him or he heard sirens," the U.S. attorney said.
Authorities determined the device wasn't real, he said.
One of the first places detectives look following such holdups is through lists of previous bank robbers.
FBI agents based in Newark quickly homed in on Abdullah, who was convicted in 1997 of robbing the First Union Bank in South Plainfield with another man of $64,569 the year before.
Abdullah -- formerly known as Hector Perez -- served nearly seven years in federal prison before being released in November 2004, records show.
U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark III ordered Abdullah held following a first appearance Thursday afternoon in Newark.
Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI with the investigation and thanked Elizabeth and Springfield police for their assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Fell of Sellinger's Narcotics/Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force in Newark is handling the case.
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