Headlines

Police: Global Jewel Thief Strikes Again, Stealing $158K in Diamonds

He reportedly managed to ‘conceal and remove’ 2 diamonds.

Published

5 years ago

July 15, 2018

INSTORE Staff

Police say two diamonds worth a total of $158,000 were stolen from a jewelry store in Chicago’s Loop — and the suspect, who has been arrested, is believed to have committed similar crimes worldwide.

Authorities say Tamaz Hubel took the gemstones from Ofer Mizrahi Diamonds on June 6, WLS-TV reports. He was arrested at Miami-Dade International Airport as he tried to leave for France, police say. Authorities plan to extradite him to Chicago.

The stolen gems were a 2-carat diamond and a 4-carat diamond, according to WLS. The Associated Press reports that while in the store, Hubel manged to “conceal and remove” the diamonds.

Hubel, 67, “recently served a prison sentence in New York for jewel theft and is currently named in a request for extradition from Belgium,” according to the news outlet.

Read more at ABC7 Chicago

When There’s No Succession Plan, Call Wilkerson

Bob Wesley, owner of Robert C. Wesley Jewelers in Scottsdale, Ariz., was a third-generation jeweler. When it was time to enjoy life on the other side of the counter, he weighed his options. His lease was nearing renewal time and with no succession plan, he decided it was time to call Wilkerson. There was plenty of inventory to sell and at first, says Wesley, he thought he might try to manage a sale himself. But he’s glad he didn’t. “There’s no way I could have done this as well as Wilkerson,” he says. Wilkerson took responsibility for the entire event, with every detail — from advertising to accounting — done, dusted and managed by the Wilkerson team. “It’s the complete package,” he says of the Wilkerson method of helping jewelers to easily go on to the next phase of their lives. “There’s no way any retailer can duplicate what they’ve done.”