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Retailer charged with buying stolen jewelry
A Topeka jewelry store owner has been indicted on charges that he knowingly purchased stolen jewelry, melted it and sold it as scrap gold for nearly half a million dollars, the United States Attorney’s Office said.
Topeka, Kan.--A Topeka jewelry store owner has been indicted on charges that he knowingly purchased stolen jewelry, melted it and sold it as scrap gold for nearly half a million dollars, the United States Attorney’s Office said.
According to information released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas, 53-year-old John O. Dasher, of Silver Lake, Kan., owned and operated a jewelry store called The Diamond House, located on S.W. Gage Boulevard in Topeka.
While he was proprietor of this establishment, Dasher purchased jewelry he knew was stolen from individuals who were committing home invasions in and around the city of Topeka, the indictment alleges. He bought the pieces for a fraction of what they were actually worth and melted them down to sell as scrap gold.
For nearly four and a half years, between November 2008 and April 2013, Dasher allegedly sent the scrap through the mail to three different precious metal wholesalers, making a total of $430,500.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas said Dasher is the only one being charged in the case at this time but could not comment on whether the investigation is ongoing.
Dasher appeared in federal court in Kansas on Thursday, facing charges of interstate transportation of stolen property (for sending the scrap through the mail) and 32 counts of money laundering. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the transportation of stolen goods charge, and a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine on each of the money laundering counts.
As of Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said no attorney had yet entered into the record as representing Dasher. A man who answered the phone at The Diamond House Friday, who identified himself as being “with the bank” and not an employee of the store, said no one was available to comment on the charges.
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