On New Year's Eve, video caught two "Hasidic" men breaking into a Diamond District jewelry shop and cleaning out the safe—just like in Snatch! The men, Mahaveer Kankariya and Atul Shah were actually hired by the owners to fake the robbery for insurance money, but until this point had been allowed to go free pending sentencing. That is, until Kankariya allegedly asked his bail bondsman, "Is there any way I can bribe the judge?" This is exactly what they warn you about in the very first chapter of Bribery for Dummies.
The bondsman, Luis Onativia, testified: "I was like, 'What are you talking about?' And he tells me, 'Well, if I tell my attorney to tell him,' and I am like—excuse the language—I said, 'What the f--k are you talking about?' I am like, 'You know what you are saying?' And he says, 'No, because in my country [India], you know, we normally do that,' and I am like, 'Dude, you are f---king crazy,' and he is like, 'Oh, oh, I am sorry. Don't take it, you know—I am just asking the question—I don't want you taking it serious.'" Unfortunately, bribery is kind of serious, and the judge threw Kankariya and Shah in the Tombs for that.
The two are currently being held without bail. Kankariya's lawyer said, "This is an unfortunate situation in which a clash of cultures between the United States and India misled Mr. Kankariya, and he is regretful and remorseful for that." Shah's lawyer clarified that Shah had "absolutely nothing to do with this." In somewhat related news, another Diamond District jeweler was charged with bankruptcy fraud after claiming an invented client never paid him for $5.6 million in merchandise. Could this be the beginning of the end for the Diamond District? If so we'd totally buy one of those street posts.
