Beverly Hills diamond dealer Richard Maslan was recently charged with 15 counts of grand theft by embezzlement for allegedly pawning more than $1 million of consignment merchandise from a New York diamond dealer.

He faces 15 years in prison.

It is unusual for a “memo fraud” case to be prosecuted criminally. However, “the pawning on its face is prima facie evidence of theft because there is no reasonable expectation that the defendant would repay all the investors,” says Allan Fork of the Los Angeles district attorney’s major fraud division.

New York dealer Manny Gordon, Maslan’s primary creditor, also has filed a $7 million lawsuit against him, says Gordon’s attorney William Briggs. Victor Sherman, Maslan’s attorney, declined comment to JCK.