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128 more victims emerge in NY jeweler fraud case
Paul Blarr, the jeweler charged earlier this year with selling simulants that he misrepresented as real diamonds and plated gold as karat gold, pleaded guilty to four new charges Monday after hundreds more victims were uncovered, the Erie County (N.Y.) District Attorney’s Office said.
Williamsville, N.Y.--Paul Blarr, the jeweler charged earlier this year with selling simulants that he misrepresented as real diamonds and plated gold as karat gold, pleaded guilty to four new charges Monday after hundreds more victims were uncovered, the Erie County (N.Y.) District Attorney’s Office said.
Blarr pleaded guilty to two counts of scheme to defraud in the first degree, grand larceny in the third degree and grand larceny in the fourth degree--the highest charges for which the defendant could have been convicted if the case had gone to trial--before Erie County Court Judge Michael Pietruszka.
These charges encompass 128 victims, which means that in addition to the May guilty plea of 11 charges that covered 89 victims, the total number of Blarr victims is now 217, prosecutors said.
Blarr, 47, used to own Amherst Diamond Exchange and R.S.N.P. Diamond Exchange. He admitted in court Monday that between Jan. 1, 2004 and March 22, 2014, he sold counterfeit jewelry to 26 more victims, which included selling simulants that he misrepresented as real diamonds.
He also admitted that he accepted items from 102 victims to sell on consignment but failed to do so.
In May, Blarr pleaded guilty as charged to one count of scheme to defraud in the first degree and 10 counts of grand larceny in the third degree, encompassing 89 victims who lost $630,000.
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More time then was given between the May guilty plea and the sentencing so prosecutors could continue to investigate the case.
Blarr is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 12, 2015, where he faces up to 50 years in state prison.
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