She defrauded companies of at least $400,000 she ordered on memo.
A former North Carolina jeweler has been sentenced to 41 months in prison on mail fraud charges
Dina R. Garfinkel was the owner and operator of Nikki B. Designs LLC, a jewelry store in Flat Rock, NC. From about 2012 through April 2013, she defrauded 12 wholesale companies of at least $400,000 in merchandise she had ordered on memo, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Court records show that, using an alias, Garfinkel would contact wholesalers throughout the U.S. and order diamonds and/or jewelry on memo. In most instances, to establish trust and rapport with the victim companies, Garfinkel made quick payments for the initial orders she received.
This caused the wholesalers to send Garfinkel additional merchandise, for which she either did not pay, partially paid or paid using worthless checks, the government said. According to statements made in court, Garfinkel has three previous convictions for carrying out the same scheme in New York and in Florida.
She has also gone by the names Dina Drake, Dina Lebovitch and Ruth Lebovitch.
Garfinkel, 69, of New York City, was also ordered to serve three years under court supervision after she is released from prison and to pay $400,000 as restitution to her victims. She was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger.
Garfinkel pleaded guilty to mail fraud in April 2016.
The sentencing was announced by Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
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