Cops Make 3rd Arrest in "Hasidic" Diamond Heist
WNBC
The fake heist
Police say they have made a third arrest in a bizarre staged robbery in midtown Manhattan where the thieves disguised like Hasidic Jews.
Police charged Atul Shah, 48, and Mahaveer Kankariya, 43, both from New Jersey, with grand larceny, insurance fraud, and falsifying records for faking the New Year's Eve 2009 heist.
Edward Fried pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of grand larcency for allegedly acting as one of the robbers.
The two thieves who took part in the robbery were caught on surveillance tape during the stick up on December 31, 2008 -- wearing traditional Hasidic Jewish wear: black coats, hats, and a beards.
They headed up the elevators of 2 West 46th Street to the Dialite Imports on the fifth floor, where the robbers proceeded to draw guns on Shah and Kankariya.
Shah was asked to take out all the assorted jewelery in the store's safe, before the robbers tied him and Kankariya up and fled the scene.
Cops were called following the incident, but now they say the owners removed the jewelery before the incident actually occurred, where nothing was stolen.
One of the thieves is in custody, the other has not been caught, the New York Post reported.
