Alabama Jeweler Charged for Faking Diamond Thefts

A former jeweler is being charged with money laundering and wire fraud after selling diamonds he claimed were stolen from his store in 2004. Federal prosecutors say Joseph Harold Gandy, 64, claimed in 2004 that his Mountain Brook store, Denman-Crosby Jewelry Store, was robbed by two men. Gandy filed insurance claims from the robbery and collected $2.6 million in insurance money. In 2013, prosecutors say Gandy asked a friend to sell some of the diamonds he’d reported stolen. That friend reportedly received a cut of the profits.