Queens man charged with stealing thousands worth of diamonds and swapping them with lab-grown stones

A Forest Hills man was indicted for defrauding two diamond merchants by covertly swapping their diamonds for lab-grown stones — worth substantially less than natural stones — that were cut to resemble the diamonds that the merchants had been offering for sale, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Thursday.

Manashe Sezanayev, 41, is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with two counts of grand larceny in the second degree, a class C felony, and scheming to defraud in the first degree, a class E felony for stealing and swapping $460,000 worth of diamonds.

According to court documents and statements made on the record in court, earlier this year, Sezanayev operated his company, Rachel’s Diamonds, in Manhattan’s Diamond District. On February 5, a diamond merchant visited Sezanayev at his office with two diamonds that the defendant expressed interest in buying, valued at approximately $200,000. That same day, Sezanayev allegedly inspected the two stones and turned his back to the merchant to weigh them on his scale. He swapped the diamonds for his lab-grown stones that had been recut to imitate the natural stones and inscribed with forged Gemological Institute of America 9GIA) laser inscriptions.

On March 27, Sezanayev told a second diamond merchant that he had a customer interested in buying that merchant’s diamond valued at approximately $200,000. That same day, Sezanayev purchased a lab-grown stone that was later recut to resemble that natural diamond and inscribed it with a forged GIA laser inscription to mimic that natural diamond.

On April 2, the second merchant met with Sezanayev and the purported customer, and the defendant examined the merchant’s diamond. The merchant later learned that the store Sezanayev returned to him was a lab-grown diamond that was cut to resemble his stone.

“Diamonds are forever, but this alleged scheme was short-lived,” Bragg said. “As alleged, Manashe Sezanayev took advantage of diamond merchants by stealing their diamonds and replacing them with fake stones. Merchants are expected to conduct business in a fair and honest manner. Those who take advantage of consumers will be held accountable.”

Sezanayev was also charged with three counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the third degree.

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