A not so subtle thief used a sledgehammer to smash a Diamond District storefront window during a 2007 robbery.
Photo: Renee Nowytarger
[From article]
The heist, which netted about $5 million, was an inside job, orchestrated by co-owner Brian Greenwald, who staged the stickup and a second robbery to collect on his insurance. He and a ringleader he recruited, Hector Rivera — a hardened thief involved in a host of Diamond District robberies between 2002 and 2008 — were both convicted in 2009, along with Eduardo Cartagena-Delgado, who flew in from Puerto Rico to help with the staged Doppelt job.
[. . .]
A culture of theft prevails, according to cops, who say this insular and ultra-competitive community is the city’s most tempting target for robbers, who pull off at least a couple of major heists each year, frequently inside jobs in which the bandits know exactly where to go and what to take. A surprising number occur during broad daylight.
[. . .]
The latest heist — of the Watch Standard Jeweler at 23 West 47th on Nov. 11 — involved a suspected double-cross by owner Daniel Mikhaylov, who allegedly got a fellow dealer to take a driving rap for him, then never paid what he had promised.
So the stiffed colleague sent two goons, including a gunman, to Mikhaylov’s eighth-floor store to scare him into paying, police said. Instead, they pistol-whipped Mikhaylov’s father and made off with $500,000 worth of luxury watches.
[. . .]
Turned out the holdup was really an elaborate performance for the cameras.
Dialite’s two owners, Atul Shah and Mahaveer Kankariva, were caught on tape emptying the company safe just before the arrival of their costumed accomplices, who merely pretended to clean them out. It was done so the two could cash in on a $7 million insurance claim. The phony robbers were never caught.
http://nypost.com/2014/11/30/
The true crime tales from NYC’s Diamond District
By Brad Hamilton
November 30, 2014 | 4:00am
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