NYC Diamond Dealer Accused of Lab-Grown Diamond Swaps

New York—A 47th Street diamond dealer faces charges of larceny and fraud for allegedly swapping out natural diamonds for lab-grown ones, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office announced late last week.

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg Jr. said 41-year-old Manashe Sezanayev of Queens, New York, was indicted in New York State Supreme Court on two counts of second-degree grand larceny, one count of first-degree scheme to defraud—both felonies—as well as three counts of third-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a misdemeanor. 

Sezanayev, better known as “Mike,” operates Rachel’s Diamonds (a.k.a. Rachel’s Lab Grown Diamonds) on Manhattan’s 47th Street. 

According to court documents and statements made on the record in court, on Feb. 5, a diamond merchant came to Sezanayev’s office with two natural diamonds Sezanayev claimed to be interested in buying. 

The stones were valued at approximately $185,000 and $75,000. 

When Sezanayev turned his back to the dealer to weigh the stones on the scale, he allegedly swapped them out for two lab-grown diamonds that had been recut to mimic the natural diamonds’ weight and quality. 

The lab-grown diamonds, which are worth significantly less than their natural counterparts, also had been fraudulently inscribed with report numbers for natural diamonds graded by the Gemological Institute of America.

Sezanayev allegedly pulled off another switch the following month, according to court records.

On March 27, Sezanayev told another diamond merchant that he had a customer interested in purchasing a diamond valued at about $200,000. 

Sezanayev then allegedly purchased a lab-grown diamond that was recut to mimic the $200,000 natural diamond and inscribed with a fraudulent GIA report number. 

The following week, on April 2, the merchant met with Sezanayev and his purported customer and Sezanayev examined the diamond. 

It was only later that the merchant learned that the diamond Sezanayev returned to him was a lab- grown stone, according to court records.

Sezanayev has pleaded not guilty in the case and his attorney, Queens-based Boris Nektalov, told National Jeweler on Tuesday that his client is “awaiting his day in court.” 

In the press release announcing Sezanayev’s indictment, the Manhattan DA’s office thanked both the New York Police Department and GIA for aiding in the investigation.

A GIA spokesman said Tuesday, “We are grateful that we were able to assist the Manhattan District Attorney’s office with the investigation … For many years, GIA has provided training and investigation assistance to law enforcement in the U.S. and around the world. This is part of our mission to protect consumers and our work to meet the industry’s needs.”

He also noted that in addition to the GIA iD100, the lab’s desktop diamond tester, the lab offers four services to match a loose diamond to its GIA report.

They are: GIA Report Check; GIA Report Confirmation Service, which became available at all GIA labs earlier this year; GIA Match iD, an inscription viewing instrument that uses AI; and the lab’s Update Service, in which GIA-graded diamonds can be submitted for re-evaluation. 

The recent indictment in New York State Supreme Court is not the first time Sezanayev has been accused of a diamond-related crime.

In 2017, he was one of a dozen men charged with perpetrating a series of frauds that ultimately cheated diamond wholesalers out of more than $9 million in goods. 

He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in 2018 and was sentenced to 366 days behind bars, court records show.  

According to the online database for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Sezanayev was released from prison in December 2019.