Jewel thief stole US$260,000 in diamonds from New York's Tiffany, Cartier shops
Advertisement
Yaorong Wan, 50, admitted switching a diamond ring worth US$225,000 for a fake one and then walking out of Tiffany's flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York in March 2024. About a week later, he pocketed a US$24,000 ring at the Cartier shop in Hudson Yards, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
Wan, who was previously wanted for a US$330,000 diamond theft in South Korea and was the subject of an Interpol arrest warrant, faces as much nine years in prison when he is sentenced next month. As of last year he was also a prime suspect in thefts at jewellery stores in New Jersey, California and Florida, the District Attorney's office said.
'New York is a global fashion capital and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to keep 'mom-and-pop shops' and high-end retailers alike safe,' District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.
Prosecutors said Wan went into the Tiffany shop last year and asked about several pieces of jewellery – including the stolen ring. He switched the real platinum-mounted ring for a cubic zirconia replica and left the shop without buying anything, Bragg said.
Advertisement
At the Cartier shop in Hudson Yards, Wan looked at two engagement rings and two watches, but was able to slip one ring into his pocket while the sales person was distracted.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
US Justice Dept probes whether Washington police falsified crime data
The US Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether police officials in Washington have falsified data to make crime rates appear lower than they are, according to two people familiar with the investigation who were not authorised to publicly discuss an open investigation. Advertisement The investigation comes amid an escalating – and political – showdown between the Trump administration and the city over control of the police department. It was not immediately clear which federal laws could have been violated by the possible manipulation of crime data. US President Donald Trump has claimed that violent crime in Washington is getting worse as he ordered a federal takeover of the city's police department, flooding the streets with hundreds of National Guard members But he exaggerated or misstated many facts about public safety in Washington, where crime rates have fallen in recent years. Advertisement Mayor Muriel Bowser's office declined to comment on the investigation. A spokesperson for US Attorney Jeannine Pirro's office in Washington did not respond to emails seeking comment.
South China Morning Post
17 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
US couple accused of living with lover's body for nearly 2 years, spending his money
A couple in the US state of Colorado face multiple felony charges after they lived for almost two years with the corpse of a man with whom they had been involved in a three-way relationship. The gruesome living arrangement was discovered in early July after the brother of 64-year-old James Frances O'Neill called the Lakewood police department in Jefferson county and requested a welfare check, according to a July 11 police arrest affidavit. During the investigation, police determined that the roommates spent more than US$17,000 with O'Neill's debit card and that someone had forged his signature on a car title after O'Neill died in their flat in December 2023, according to the affidavit. The body had stayed in the flat under a deflated air mattress since late December 2023 until police served a search warrant on July 3. The couple confessed to keeping the body inside and not reporting the death to police, in part because they were spending O'Neill's social security money, the affidavit stated. James Agnew, 55, and Suzanne Agnew, 57, each face one count of tampering with a deceased body, abuse of a corpse, one count of theft between US$5,000 and US$20,000 and one count of unauthorised use of a financial device, court records show. The arrest was first reported by 9News. The death investigation began after O'Neill's brother called the Lakewood police to ask for a welfare check in June 2025 after not hearing from him since 2021. When police went to the flat in the 3400 block of South Ammon Street, a man met them outside, implied that he was O'Neill and told police that he did not wish to have contact with his family.
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- South China Morning Post
‘Ketamine Queen' accused of selling fatal dose to Matthew Perry agrees to plead guilty
A woman known as the 'Ketamine Queen', charged with selling Matthew Perry the drug that killed him, agreed to plead guilty on Monday. Jasveen Sangha becomes the fifth and final defendant charged in the overdose death of the Friends star to strike a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, avoiding a trial that had been planned for September. She agreed to plead guilty to five federal criminal charges, including providing the ketamine that led to Perry's death on October 28, 2023, federal prosecutors said in a statement. Prosecutors had cast Sangha, a 42-year-old citizen of the US and the UK, as a prolific drug dealer who was known to her customers as the 'Ketamine Queen', using the term often in press releases and court documents and even including it in the official name of the case. She agreed to plead guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury. She admitted in the agreement to selling four vials of ketamine to another man, Cody McLaury, hours before he died from an overdose in 2019. McLaury had no relationship to Perry.
