A jewel thief named Tamaz Hubel, 67, was caught in Miami just as he was boarding a flight to France. Hubel, a notorious thief uses the sleight-of-hand trick to bag precious stones. Traders have been warned of him in an industry publication from Diamond Importers and Manufacturers Association of America where they urged the traders to stop reading and go count their diamonds in their stock. The warning was run after his 2010 theft in New York. He has been accused of pulling at least four other heists in the last 10 years, swiping a range of diamonds worth $4,500 to more than $130,000.
How was Hubel able to get access to the stones? He appeared at the store pretending to be a representative of his boss in Russia. The salesperson took him within the office – without checking his ID as the receptionists were missing from their desks and the salesperson was not trained to do so. When a box of diamonds, each covered in tissue, was presented before him, he opened his briefcase and pulled out his price-list and used it to distract the salesperson as he lifts the diamonds from the box and replaced them with empty tissues. Police have not issued a statement reporting if the diamonds have been recovered.
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