2008

Dealer Indicted in $3 Million Memo Case

June 2008

Avi Taub, 29, was recently indicted on charges that he took $3.3 million of diamonds on memo and didn't pay for them. He pleaded not guilty to charges of grand larceny and insurance fraud and was held on $100,000 bail.

Taub and his family members had conducted business as A. Taub Diamonds, building up credit before disappearing in April 2007.

Taub had filed a police complaint on June 13, claiming he was mugged, and then filed an insurance claim.

Shortly thereafter, when police searched Taub's parents home in Long Beach, they found him hiding in a bedroom closet with two of the diamonds he had just claimed were stolen.

Dealers have filed a suit against Taub's family to get their stones back.