A gems dealer from Forest Hills claims he made a couple of bad investments this week when, after blowing a deal to sell about $500,000 worth of uncut diamonds, he hooked up with a hooker who ran off with the loot, the Post reports. It all started when Kurt Kaiser, 47, was drowning his sorrows at a Central Park South bar when a woman approached him and asked if she could keep him company. What could go wrong?
They boozed together briefly, then headed to the low-cost Cosmopolitan Hotel in Tribeca; on the way, the woman had Kaiser buy her a $500 gift card and a box of condoms, tipping him off to the fact that she probably wasn't going to be an average date. He was still carrying a briefcase full of the (uninsured) diamonds when they arrived at the hotel, and hid them in a drawer. He and the prostitute got down to business, and he passed out quickly afterwards. When he came to, he realized the diamonds were gone, along with his sunglasses, watch and passport. "I woke and thought, 'I've been screwed,' " he told the Post. Ya' think?
Kaiser is offering a reward for the gems' return, and police officers have checked the hotel room for prints and DNA. Surveillance video reportedly shows a woman running down a hallway holding his briefcase and her high heeled shoes. But not everyone's buying Kaiser's story. As one "top" Post commenter opines, "If you got a HALF MIL in ICE uptown, why are you BOFFIN' some TART downtown in that CRAP COSMOPOLITAN hotel on CHAMBERS? SHERLOCK SMELLS SCAM!"
And Business Insider reports that an NYPD public information officer was unable to locate any report on the investigation or incident. Scam or no scam, let this be a lesson to us all: if you take half a million dollars worth of precious gems and a hooker to a hotel, it might be a good idea to lock the diamonds in a safe. Alternatively, you could only go to bed with trustworthy women who'll have sex with you for free!
