Men Sentenced for Fencing Millions in Diamonds

RAPAPORT... A Texas court has sentenced five men to a combined 16 years in prison for selling stolen goods on behalf of a Colombian gang, and has ordered them to pay $7.5 million in restitution.The five, among them a prominent jewelry dealer from New York's 47th Street Diamond District, were brought up on money-laundering charges, the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas said Tuesday. The gangs would attack and rob traveling jewelry salespeople, then have the men in question fence the goods for them, according to the statement. All five had pleaded guilty to various charges over the past two years.Yuri Alishaev admitted that he had agreed to purchase stolen diamonds. He pleaded guilty to concealment of a felony and was sentenced to probation. Alishaev has paid back the $1 million he owed in restitution, authorities noted.Rubenhay Pinkhasov, who transported the stolen goods across state lines, was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to repay $1 million. Romelio Rivieron and Elkin Acosta Lopez both faced money-laundering charges for traveling from their respective homes in Florida and Colombia to meet the robbers in Texas and purchase stolen jewelry and diamonds after an attack. Lopez would then travel to New York to melt down the jewelry and sell it, or bring it back to Colombia and sell it in his shop there, while Rivieron resold his in Miami.Lopez, who was arrested in March 2018 and subsequently sentenced to 68 months after pleading guilty in 2019, was ordered to repay $1.4 million. Rivieron will serve 32 months and owes $2.3 million. He has already repaid $230,000.New York resident Harrinson Corredor connected Lopez with the robbers and helped broker sales. The court ordered him to pay $1.8 million in restitution in addition to his original sentence of 63 months in prison.Image: Loose diamonds and diamond jewelry. (Shutterstock)