Long Island City – A Scarsdale mom was busted for stealing $12 million in gold and gems from a posh Queens jewelry store by slipping it out piece by piece in her purse lining, prosecutors said.
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For the past six years, Teresa Tambunting, a vault manager at Jacmel Jewelry, stole 500 pounds of baubles and raw gold, which she hid in the suburban home she shared with her husband and three children, according to prosecutors.
The 50-year-old Tambunting hoarded part of her growing treasure trove of gems and raw gold vials in 5-gallon buckets in their basement, law enforcement sources said.
The theft began to unravel in January, when the company audited its Long Island City headquarters vault and discovered $12 million in inventory missing, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
They had grown suspicious that their losses were more than the normal 3% annual rate, law enforcement sources said.
When Tambunting got wind of the audit some time during the winter, she arrived at work dragging two rolling luggage bags filled with 80 pounds of gold apiece, law enforcement sources said.
The bags were so heavy she needed help from the garage employees to get them into the building, the source said.
“I have something to tell you,” a panicky Tambunting confessed to her boss, law enforcement sources said. She claimed she needed to take it, the source said.
Tambunting is expected to argue through her lawyer that she has a form of obsessive compulsive disorder, the source said.
Lawyer David Kirby could not immediately be reached for comment.
Law enforcement sources are at a loss to explain how her husband, Edgardo Tambunting, who works at Cantor Fitzgerald, didn’t know about the plot.
Edgardo Tambunting, last listed as manager of the firm’s debt capital market team, has not been charged.
Tambunting had worked for Jacmel for 27 years and worked her way up to a salary of $165,000 a year, law enforcement sources said.
The international company – founded in 1977 and claiming to be one of the largest manufacturers in the country – employs 250 staffers in their 100,000 square-foot headquarters, according to their website.
They also have a manufacturing plant in Santo Domingo, D.R., the site says. The company declined to comment.
A search of Tambunting’s home in February uncovered another 450 pounds of stashed loot, prosecutors said.
She turned herself in to prosecutors Tuesday and was arraigned Wednesday in Queens Criminal Court on grand larceny charges.
Tambunting faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. Her lawyer did not return calls for comment.
She tried to make her $100,000 bail with a certified check, but was held at Rikers overnight and ordered to produce the bail in cash, prosecutors said.
“Oh my gosh. I am in shock,” said a neighbor who has lived across the street from Tambunting for the past 10 years, “They are the most lovely people. I’ve never seen anything suspicious. I hope this is a big mistake.”
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
That’s okay. I’m sure she’ll be able to take advantage of lots of psych resources in prison.
She made $165k and still had the chutzpah to steal? I make $65k have to take vacation for YomTov and still guard my owners assets as if they belonged to me. How do I apply for her job.
MUCHO DINERO!!
why did it take 6 years to figure out that there was 12 million missin?
It is interesting. This woman had more than enough resources to do just run. Instead, she just admitted it all and returned the goods before ever being caught. Maybe she really is mentally ill…. She never cashed it in to spend… she just hoarded it…. This is a strange one.
I use to work with this company, I knew her,she was the nicest person in the world, I guess you can’t trust anybody
Now they’ll fry her in prison for 25 years.
For what? She returned her loot didn’t she?!
What a great justice system.
She should get her sentence reduced for admitting without them having to investigate and not likely finding out where the missing gold went. This is a far cry from madoff and while I don’t think it’s good to steal, and that this woman should be punished on some level, still this not as bad a crime as others.
#9 i think you should get your head re-adjusted
I like very much that she showed up with the goods. That is amazing. I am impressed by that even though she stole. We are like that when we stand before Hashem especially on Yom Kippur and we bring our own two loaded trunks filled with avayros and hope that He will forgive us.
Many comments here seem to…not sanction but…turn a blind eye to this theft. She does sound odd even I’ll but she obviously knew it was immoral/illegal or she wouldn’t have confessed to having done something wrong. If someone knows the police are watching and THEN confesses, they are not entitled to defense by reason of mental illness. While she may be of a faith of which you approve, she ought not be extended any special considerations. Here in the South, I hear similar misplaced sympathies for Baptists. I wish I could preview this and revise as needed but I do not see that option.