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Professional Gangs Sent Industry Dollar Losses Soaring in 2019

New York—The U.S. jewelry industry saw dollar losses from crime almost double last year, driven by a spike in the number of organized, professional gangs pulling off multimillion-dollar burglaries.
According to the annual crime report for 2019 compiled by the Jewelers’ Security Alliance, dollar losses due to crimes against the industry totaled $101 million in 2019, up 89 percent from $53.4 million in 2018….

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Thief steals over $10K in jewelry from unlocked car at NW Miami-Dade gas station

NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) – Tens of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry and cash was stolen from the unlocked car of a jeweler while parked at a Northwest Miami-Dade gas station.
The theft was captured on surveillance video at a Chevron along Northwest 67th Avenue, Wednesday night…..

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Police Searching For Suspect Wanted For Deadly Jewelry Store Stabbing, Robbery

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Detectives are searching for a suspect who stabbed a jewelry store owner to death during a robbery in downtown Los Angeles earlier this month.
The below images were provided to help track down the suspect…..

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Watch as masked men steal £100k from jewellers

VIDEO
Detectives have released CCTV footage of the moment four masked men smashed their way into a jewellery shop in Ely.
Police were called at about 2.50am this morning (13 November) to reports of a break in at The Italian Jewellers in High Street Passage.
The thieves ransacked the store before making off with more than £100,000 worth of rings and watches….

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Romanian couple, 33, used six-year-old boy to help steal a £67,000 gold watch from Harrods by switching it for a replica hidden in the boy’s hood

A Romanian couple used a six-year-old boy to help them steal a £67,000 watch from Harrods, a court heard.
Ilie Para and Marta Para-Bloj, both 33, scoped out the luxury retailer, in Knightsbridge, central London, days ahead of the theft and took pictures of the Royal Offshore Oak 18 carat rose gold watch…..

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JSA Says There’s Been a Spike in Distraction Thefts

New York—The Jewelers’ Security Alliance has noticed, and is tracking, an uptick in the number of distraction thefts at jewelry stores. An email alert sent out Thursday by JSA noted several such incidences across the country, starting in early August. ….

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Member of Gang That Targeted Traveling Salespeople in Texas Sentenced

Dallas—One member of a five-person gang that was targeting traveling jewelry salespeople in Texas a few years ago was sentenced in federal court last week.
U.S. District Judge David Godbey sentenced 35-year-old Robert Riveros to 22 years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to robbery and firearms charges. …

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Diamond thief, 33, who was part of gang jailed for duping jewellers with Monopoly cash in £7million scam is fighting extradition to Germany after ‘stealing gems from house’

A diamond thief who was jailed for his involvement in a £7million scam which saw jewellers tricked with Monopoly money is fighting extradition to Germany.
Bruno Nikolic, 33, from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, was sent to jail for his part in the fraud which saw a group of con artists use toy money hidden among real euro notes during high-value deals. …

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3 ‘traveling distraction burglars’ caught by South Florida deputies

Three men posing as landscapers, contractors and utility workers to prey on victims in Florida were arrested Wednesday afternoon after an apparent distraction burglary, authorities said.
Nikko Gigolo Thompson, 28, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, John Eric Thompson Jr., 29, also of Fort Lauderdale, and Tom Bimbo, 56, of Cleveland, were each charged with single counts of occupied burglary and grand theft, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office…..

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A Louis Vuitton Employee is at the Center of $15 Million-Plus Counterfeit Bust

Chinese police recently busted a counterfeiting scheme in Shanghai, one that has ensnared at least one of luxury brand Louis Vuitton’s own employees. In August, authorities in Shanghai arrested dozens of individuals and seized an array of equipment, textiles, and fake Louis Vuitton bags in connection with a sweeping – and particularly upscale – counterfeit manufacturing operation that boasted the cooperation of a Louis Vuitton sales associate,….

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