Diamond Thief Sentenced to Three Years in Prison

Scott Bradley Meyrowitz, 61, of Lake Worth, was sentenced to three years in prison yesterday for wire fraud. 

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

On December 13, 2018, Meyrowitz pled guilty to the one-count Information charging him with wire fraud (Case No. 18-80216-CR-Middlebrooks).  U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks sentenced Meyrowitz to a total of 36 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.  Meyrowitz was also ordered to pay $1,817,400 in restitution to two victims in the case.   

According to court documents, including an agreed upon factual proffer, in January 2015, Meyrowitz took possession of a 4.05 carat flawless heart shaped blue diamond for the purpose of finding a buyer in Florida. Unbeknownst to the owner of the diamond in New York, Meyrowitz contacted a pawn shop in Arizona and negotiated a loan in the amount of $1 million by having Meyrowitz’s friend pose as the actual owner of the diamond.  In order to finalize the loan, Meyrowitz procured a gem grading certificate detailing the diamond’s cut, color and clarity, all of which have an impact on the diamond’s value.

Through Meyrowitz’s friend the pawn shop wire transferred $1 million on March 3, 2015, in exchange for the pledging of the diamond as collateral.  Of that amount, $955,000 of the proceeds were deposited into an account controlled by Meyrowitz.  Later, the pawn shop agreed to buy the diamond for $1.3 million, and wire transferred an additional $250,000, with $225,000 going into Meyrowitz’s account.

As part of the wire fraud scheme, Meyrowitz repeatedly assured the owner of the diamond in New York that he would find a buyer for the diamond, and/or return the diamond to the owner.  Instead, he took the proceeds from the sale of the diamond and used them for his own purposes, including trading in the stock market.

The restitution includes repaying $1,250,000 to the Arizona pawn shop, which ultimately returned the diamond to its rightful owner, and $567,400 in legal fees to the New York owner of the diamond which were incurred by the owner in litigation to get the diamond returned.

U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan commended the investigative efforts of the FBI in this matter.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Jorgensen.