A Queens man was indicted on money laundering charges, accused of acting as a fence for a violent robbery crew who held up jewelers at gunpoint in New York and New Jersey, snatching $2 million in pricey watches and diamonds, authorities said.
Stanislav “Steve” Yakubov, a jeweler at the Jamaica Colosseum Mall, allegedly handed over a bag stuffed with $84,000 for a stolen, $250,000 Richard Mille timepiece, said prosecutors from the US Attorney’s office in Manhattan.
The watch, along with a $35,000 diamond chain, had been taken in October 2019, when two men attacked a Diamond District jeweler in Long Island City, kicking and punching him and then stealing the goods, according to a court document.
The robbery was one of a string of gunpoint attacks on Big Apple jewelers in 2019 and 2020, in which two men allegedly grabbed $2 million worth of goods, accosting jewelers near their homes in Queens, Brooklyn, upstate Woodbury and New Jersey.
The thieves snatched a $500,000 Richard Mille watch, a $160,000 Patek Philippe, a Rolex worth $150,000, an Audemars Paget watch valued at $28,000 and other gems, like a $28,000 diamond bracelet, according to court records.
Yakubov, who was arrested last month, allegedly bought stolen goods from the thieves three times, the feds said. Yakubov was indicted April 6 in Manhattan Federal Court.
He paid $34,000 for the stolen Rolex, which was also taken in October 2019, and $60,000 for the Patek Philippe, prosecutors alleged.
Yakubov denied the allegations and claimed the thieves he allegedly dealt with were former customers, authorities said. His lawyer noted the jeweler was himself assaulted during a “vicious” 2017 robbery, and that he was out of the country during alleged meetings with thieves.