On Sept. 16, Paul Williams (pictured), the former owner of the Jewelry Liquidation store in Tulsa, Okla., was arrested and charged with multiple counts of allegedly taking customers’ jewelry and not returning it, according to the Tulsa Police Department’s Facebook page.
Williams has been charged with four counts of embezzlement by employee, one count of false declaration of ownership, and one count of obtaining money or property under false pretenses, the police department said.
According to the Tulsa Police Department’s statement, over the course of several months, it received multiple reports of stolen or missing jewelry that had been dropped off at Jewelry Liquidation.
“In each case, the victims dropped off their jewelry for cleaning, repair or appraisal, and the jewelry was retained by the store owner, Paul Williams,” the department claimed. “Several weeks would go by without any follow up from the owner. Numerous victims reported they made several attempts to check the status of their jewelry, or get their jewelry back, and were never able to contact the owner, Paul Williams.”
At one point, Jewelry Liquidation “abruptly” closed its doors and removed all its inventory, the department said.
“Detectives later learned that the store owner Paul Williams retained thousands of dollars of jewelry under the assumption that he was cleaning, repairing and appraising the jewelry, but actually pawned the jewelry off for financial gain, without the consent of the original owner/customer.”
Several victims created a Facebook group called “People ripped off by Paul Williams,” and additional victims came forward. In total, the department’s Financial Crimes Unit received 12 official police reports claiming they were also victims of Paul Williams and his store.
A purported victim of Williams spoke to a local channel here.
Williams could not be reached for comment.
Tulsa police asked that anyone who believes they are a victim of this crime contact its Financial Crimes unit at 918-596-9209.
Photo via the Tulsa Police Department’s Facebook page
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