Crime File 2008: Stories from the IDEX Online Archive

It was supposed to be a relaxing break at the movies, but a Los Angeles diamond salesman whose backpack was stolen at the cinema discovered that taking his diamonds to the flicks was not the best idea.

Even though he had his hand on the bag, a Hispanic male snatched the bag and ran out of the theater, where he escaped in a waiting car. In June, approximately $1 million in loose diamonds was stolen in two separate but linked robberies in the southern U.S. (see the article Safety Checklist For Your Store for tips on how to avoid such incidents). New York salesman Yair Gavrielli was in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on a sales call to B&J Jewelers when he was assaulted and robbed of his merchandise by two hooded and masked men who were armed with knives. Gavrielli said that the two broke the driver's side of the car, grabbed his keys and removed a bag containing diamonds from the trunk.

According to the Pine Bluff Commercial, Gavrielli said that the men, who were possibly Hispanic, then dragged him from the car, wrestled him to the ground whereupon they removed his shoes and socks and took additional diamonds that Gavrielli had concealed.

Two days prior to the incident involving Gavrielli, Shahab Ebrahimi of New York was robbed at a hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Ebrahimi was relieved of a briefcase containing $500,000 of diamonds when two men smashed his car window and grabbed the briefcase from the car.

Another incident that took place in June proved that no matter how safe your safe, it's never completely safe. Confused? Then read on. In June, thieves broke into a jewelry store in Attleboro, Massachusettes and stole up to $2 million in gold and diamond jewelry, including Super Bowl rings made for New York Giants staff members. According to local press reports, in the daring heist, the burglars disabled the alarm system at E .A. Dion Inc., cut a hole in the roof and escaped with a 1,000 pound safe. The theft was only discovered when an employee came to the store to investigate after she could not access her work email from home because the phone lines had been cut.

The rings, which had a retail value exceeding $25,000, had been designed by Tiffany & Co. They were made of white gold, with the "NY" letters set in diamonds. Financial scams occur in many different ways. In March, Jewelry Television (JTV) announced that it had filed a lawsuit against its insurance provider, Lloyd's of London. The suit was seeking more than $1.6 million to cover the cost of goods stolen by a Brooklyn man in a 13-month jewelry buying spree.

The catch? Tracy Ball used funds from an account owned by the Office of the Comptroller of New York City that was designated to pay workman compensation claims. In total, Ball drained the account of a whopping $3,625,271.05.

From March 7, 2006 to March 28, 2007, Tracy Ball made 604 electronic funds transfers from a JPMorgan Chase bank account maintained by The New York City Comptroller to the Knoxville, Tennessee-headquartered company. Many of the orders were made in bulk. For example, on March 11, 2007, within a span of about 12 minutes, Ball ordered ten pairs of a single type of diamond earrings; 15 of a single type of diamond necklace and 15 of a single type of gold necklace. The next day, he ordered 20 of a single type of diamond bracelet.

It is unknown how Ball, a former social worker, who never worked at the Comptroller's office, was able to access the account. All the way down under, another jewelry store was hit. In January, thieves targeted the Mondial Neuman jewelry store in Sydney, Australia. The shop specializes in rare pink diamonds. The thieves, who were wearing balaclavas, used a white four-wheel drive vehicle to gain entrance through the rear window of the store, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Two or three men then entered the building armed with sledgehammers and took several items, worth AUS$2 ($1.175) million, before driving off in a red Audi.

According to the newspaper report, the security guard tried to prevent the robbery by standing in front of the getaway car. In June, it was reported that the ram-raid was just one of a number of incidents carried out by an organized crime gang. The connection was made after the robbery and serious crime squad made the connection after seeing the (stolen) Audi in security camera footage of robberies in the central business district, inner west and North Shore, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.

The paper also reported that 89 of the 359 unique pieces had been recovered by police in an unrelated raid on a home on May 9.