By Nina Mandell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — It was a scene straight out of "Snatch" — robbers dressed as Hasidic Jews, complete with fake beards, knocked over a Diamond District jewelry store and took $4 million worth of gems in a brazen daytime heist.
Turns out, the cast of characters in this New Year's Eve 2008 caper at Dialite Imports on W. 46th Street, included the owners themselves, who paid two men to rob them, police said on Tuesday.
In the heist, the thieves got past security guards using fake IDs and disguises and then tied up workers, including owner Atul Shah, before they made off with the loot.
But investigators immediately thought something was fishy, police said. They found that the store was six months behind on rent and more than $1 million in debt, police sources told the Daily News shortly after the robbery.
Police sources confirmed to DNAinfo that the robbery was a staged inside job. Shah, and another owner, Mahaveer Kankariya, both of New Jersey, were arrested and charged with grand larceny, insurance fraud and falsifying business records, police said.
The men who posed as robbers hadn't been charged, though one suspect was in custody, police said.
At the time of the crime, Shah told reporters he couldn't talk about the incident because of the insurance claim, the New York Post reported.
