Harry Harout Arakelian: Jeweller’s fresh charges over diamond fraud
Police will now allege he made off with even more diamonds when he fled to New Zealand 18 years ago. The fraud unit has charged him with stealing jewels from two more stores in the CBD.
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Police have laid fresh charges against the jeweller they allege made off with $170,000 worth of diamonds when he moved to New Zealand in 2002.
Haroutioun Arakelian, 53, has pleaded not guilty to the two fresh counts of larceny as a bailee.
Police will allege the Wentworth Point man took a 3.58 carat brilliant cut diamond and then exchanged a 2.31 carat Princess cut Cognac diamond from two different jewellers he was working at in the Sydney CBD 18 years ago.
The charges come after Sydney City Fraud Unit detectives initially arrested Arakelian last October on 21 historical warrants alleging he made off with jewels worth $170,000.
He had relocated to New Zealand and continued trading as a jeweller there.
During his first court appearance, his barrister Stephen Stanton said the police “knew where he was” the whole time.
The court heard Arakelian had alerted authorities during numerous trips he made back to Australia between 2002 and 2019.
“What brought him to authorities’ attention was he tried to establish a new business (in Sydney) and we suspect he made an application for a liquor licence and it came up on that check that he was wanted on those warrants,” Mr Stanton told the court.
“Nothing has come up in the past 16 years for the police to pursue him with any diligence.”
The maximum penalty for the new charges attracts a potential jail term of five years imprisonment.
Arakelian’s case will return to Burwood Local Court later this year.
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