A Providence pawn shop owner has been charged with buying 108 stolen Tiffany & Co. rings valued at $378,000, following an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General.
Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced that Mohamed Bahra, 58, of Lincoln, R.I., was arrested and charged in Sixth Division District Court with one count of knowingly receiving 26.3 ounces of stolen 18 karat gold, one count of failing to require proof of identification for sellers of precious metals, and one count of failure to keep proper sales records.
Court records allege that on July 31, 2023, a UPS employee stole the gold rings from a UPS center in Warwick and sold them to Bahra at Four C’s Pawn Shop in Providence for $12,384. On August 1, 2023, Bahra brought the rings to Glines and Rhodes, a precious metal refinery in Attleboro, Massachusetts. An employee at the refinery contacted Tiffany & Co.'s security team after verifying that the rings were stolen and intended for delivery to a Providence jewelry store. Investigators confirmed with Tiffany & Co. that the retail value of the rings was approximately $378,000.
On August 18, 2023, Bahra admitted to Warwick Police that he purchased the rings from the UPS employee. The UPS employee later confirmed on August 28, 2023, that he had stolen and sold the rings to Bahra for $12,384. On January 16, 2024, Bahra met with investigators from the Office of the Attorney General and admitted again to purchasing the rings but could not provide a copy of the seller’s identification or a properly completed Precious Metals Unit report form as required by law.
Investigator William Piva led the investigation on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General.
Bahra is scheduled for a pre-arraignment conference on November 27, 2024, in Providence County Superior Court.
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