By Jeremy Walsh
A vault manager at a major Long Island City jewelry manufacturer was arrested on charges of pocketing as much as $12 million in gold over five years, District Attorney Richard Brown said last week.
Teresa Tambunting, 50, of Scarsdale, N.Y., worked at Jacmel Jewelry on 47th Avenue for 28 years, Brown said. She had been vault manager since 1991, he said. Jacmel was founded in 1977 and is one of the country’s largest jewelry manufacturers.
Tambunting, who lives in an elaborate, Tudor−style home in Westchester County, was arraigned April 28 before Queens Criminal Court Judge Barry Kron on grand larceny and stolen property charges, the DA said. Tambunting was released on $100,000 bail and ordered to return to court May 19, Brown said. If convicted, she faces up to 25 years in prison, Brown said.
Her lawyer, David Kirby, did not respond to requests for comment by press time Tuesday.
“It is alleged that this once trusted employee carried out her long−arm scheme by concealing jewelry and raw gold in the lining of her pocketbook,” Brown said in a statement. “Our investigation is continuing in an effort to determine the extent of her employer’s loss.”
The thefts are alleged to have occurred between January 2004 and April 2009. Officials at Jacmel first noticed a problem when a physical inventory conducted at the company in January revealed that as much as $12 million worth of merchandise was unaccounted for, Brown said. Gold was trading Monday at more than $902 an ounce.
In statements allegedly made to detectives assigned to the DA’s Detective Bureau, Tambunting said she had taken fine gold over several months during the previous year by concealing it in the lining of her pocketbook, into which she had cut a slit.
After the DA’s office began the investigation, Tambunting arrived at Jacmel’s offices wheeling a suitcase containing 66 pounds of fine gold worth approximately $868,000, Brown said. The DA’s office would not comment on why Tambunting brought the gold to the office, but the New York Post reported she told the company it was all that she had stolen.
However, on Feb. 13, investigators from the DA’s office recovered an additional 447 pounds of gold from Tambunting’s residence, Brown said.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e−mail at jewalsh@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 154.
