FBI Probes Brazilian-American Over Alleged Luxury Jewelry Consignment Scheme

Overview

• New reporting details how the suspect used emotional stories and shifting excuses, including a staged dog-bite photo and a false claim of an employee’s death, to delay payments.
• The investigations say she took jewelry on consignment, paid at first to build trust, then stopped paying and failed to return items that were later pawned for far less, including a necklace valued at about $120,000 that fetched roughly $6,000.
• The FBI is examining the flow of pieces into south Florida pawn shops, and Brazilian police say total losses could reach about $20 million based on victim accounts and traced items.
• Authorities and victims describe most activity in Miami, Boca Raton, and Palm Beach, where she has residences, and they report active efforts to find and recover diverted pieces.
• Her lawyers deny any crime, say there are no warrants, and argue the dispute is commercial, while victims recount six- and seven-figure losses and months spent waiting for payments that never arrived.