Dina R. Garfinkel defrauded 12 companies of at least $400,000 in merchandise, the government says
Former North Carolina jeweler Dina R. Garfinkel has been sentenced to 41 months in jail for defrauding 12 wholesale companies of at least $400,000 in merchandise that she ordered on memo.
Garfinkel, the former owner of Nikki B. Designs in Flat Rock, N.C., first pled guilty to mail fraud in April 2016. She was first indicted last December.
According to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, Garfinkel—who went by the aliases Dina Drake, Dina Lebovitch, and Ruth Lebovitch—would contact wholesalers and order diamonds and jewelry on consignment. While at first she would pay promptly for goods, at some point she would not pay, or partially pay for the goods, or send worthless checks, the department charged.
The statement said that Garfinkel has three prior convictions for carrying on similar schemes in New York and in Florida.
In a bizarre twist to the case, Garfinkel, currently in federal custody, has filed suit against her New York City landlord, who is attempting to evict her from her Manhattan apartment, according to the New York Post.
The landlord says the Manhattan apartment is being illegally subletted, the newspaper says.
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