MIDTOWN — A group of a dozen diamond sellers were charged with defrauding wholesale dealers out of more than $9 million since 2015, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
The ring used various schemes — including a “bust out,” where they built credit before failing to pay after their final deal — to acquire untraceable small “melee diamonds” from wholesalers in locations including Las Vegas and reselling them in the Diamond District, according to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“The twelve charged defendants allegedly participated in a global conspiracy to defraud diamond dealers out of more than $9 million,” Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said in a statement.
“Centered in Manhattan’s diamond district, America’s busiest hub in the diamond trade, the defendants allegedly took advantage of an industrywide system of credit and trust to obtain largely untraceable diamonds, and then, using various allegedly illegal schemes, refused to pay.”
In one case, Godel “Gary” Sezanayev, 40, Albert Foozailov, 53, Imanil “Eddy” Muratov, Manashe “Michael” Sezanayev and Ali Javidnezhad cheated one wholesaler out of more than $2.4 million from January 2015 to November 2016.
Members of the group also wrote bad checks, forged documents or told wholesalers that another customer took the diamonds and refused to pay, prosecutors said.
Ten of the ring members have already been busted and two — Javidnezhad and 56-year-old Nizamuden Akbari — are still at large.
The crew members are all facing up to 20 years in prison on wire and mail fraud charges.
The 10 captured defendants were expected to be arraigned in Manhattan federal court Wednesday afternoon.
Information on their lawyers was not immediately available.
