Jewelers cost taxpayers millions: Suozzi

State and county authorities cited 11 jewelry stores in Nassau Thursday for not charging sales tax to customers who agreed to pay in cash.

The crackdown prompted County Executive Tom Suozzi to estimate that Nassau loses tens of millions of dollars in uncollected sales tax revenue each year.

"The more money the county collects in sales tax, the less we have to collect in property tax," Suozzi said. "For people who are following the rules - people paying their property taxes - this is completely unfair.

"And it's an unfair competitive advantage for the people breaking the rules over the businesses who follow the rules," the county executive added.

Police raided the jewelry stores Tuesday, seizing more than $70,000 in cash, computers and file cabinets containing sales records of nontaxed transactions.

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JFK workers charged with taking diamonds

Two baggage handlers at Kennedy airport are accused of stealing more than $250,000 worth of diamonds and other jewelry.

Queens prosecutors said Monday that a 51-year-old worker and his 39-year-old supervisor are charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property. They say the jewelry was stolen last week from a container marked "high value" that was being shipped from Switzerland to Brazil.

Police say the supervisor broke the seals on the container and gave three boxes of jewelry to the other worker. They say the worker then hid the jewelry in his jacket before placing it in a locker at an American Airlines terminal, where investigators found it.

Each of the men is held on $5,000 bail and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

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11 Nassau jewelry stores charged in tax sting

Eleven jewelry stores in Nassau County were caught in a state-tax inspection sting when store clerks agreed to not charge sales tax if the customer paid with cash, Nassau police said.

Computers, cash and sales records were seized at the stores Tuesday morning by the Nassau police and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Enforcement, during the execution of 11 search warrants.

The investigation, dubbed "Gold Rush," was an undercover operation in which merchants engaged in the sale of jewelry agreed not to charge state sales tax for cash purchases. The investigation is continuing.

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Man Steals $24,000 Ring From Jewelry Store

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Authorities are searching for a man who took off with a $24,000 diamond ring from a jewelry store in the Avenues Mall.

Police said the man entered the store Tuesday and asked to see a ring he was considering as a Valentine's Day gift for someone.

When the expensive ring was removed from behind the glass case, the man snatched it from the store employee and ran out of the mall.

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