Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau announced today the indictment of a diamond dealer who stole merchandise consigned to him by other dealers, then falsely claimed he had been robbed of those diamonds.

The defendant, ALFRED TAUB, also known as AVI TAUB, has been charged with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, insurance fraud, and falsely reporting an incident.  The defendant will be arraigned later today in New York State Supreme Court.

The investigation leading to today’s indictment began with complaints from diamond dealers that TAUB had stolen more than $3 million worth of diamonds from more than 45 dealers over approximately a two month period in the spring of 2007.  On June 13, 2007, TAUB filed a complaint with the 5th police precinct stating that that day while he was visiting jewelry stores on Canal Street in Chinatown and carrying more than $1 million worth of diamonds in a leather bag, someone came up from behind him, stole his satchel of diamonds, and sprayed pepper spray in his face.  TAUB claimed that he never saw his attacker. 

Subsequently, TAUB filed a claim under his insurance policy for the loss he claimed to have incurred during the robbery, which he stated was far in excess of the policy’s $100,000 limit.  In furtherance of his claim, TAUB supplied both the 5th precinct and his insurance company with consignment memoranda that he claimed represented the stolen diamonds. 

On June 27, 2007, police detectives assigned to the District Attorney’s Office Squad executed a search warrant at the home of Taub’s parents, and at other locations.  When they entered the home of TAUB’S parents, they observed TAUB run through the house and into a bedroom closet, where the detectives found four diamonds and more than $12,000 cash.  The detectives recovered four more diamonds in the same house.  The investigation revealed that two of the diamonds recovered were diamonds that TAUB had claimed were stolen, and those diamonds matched consignment memoranda that TAUB had submitted to police officers and his insurance company as among those taken from him in the robbery.

Det. Mark Weber of the District Attorney’s Squad headed the investigation under the supervision of Capt. Jay Finn, the Squad’s Commanding Officer.  Mr. Morgenthau also thanked Det. Jose Santiago of the 5th Precinct Detective Squad, who under the supervision of Lt. Patrick Jean Joseph, began the investigation into Taub’s bogus robbery claim.

The case was presented to the grand jury by Assistant District Attorney Hope Korenstein under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Michael Kitsis, Jeannette Molina, and Micki Shulman, the chief and deputy chiefs, respectively, of the District Attorney’s Frauds Bureau.

Defendant Information:

ALFRED TAUB, a/k/a AVI TAUB
DOB: 1/17/1979
1 E. Broadway, Apt. 30
Long Beach, NY 11561

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