Former Tiffany Exec Pleads Guilty to $2.1 Million Jewelry Theft

The former executive at Tiffany & Co. plead guilty to stealing $2.1 million in necklaces, bracelets, and earrings made of diamonds, platinum and gold less than a month after being charged.  Ingrid Lederhaas-Okun, in her position as vice president of product development, was given permission to "check out jewelry from Tiffany for reasons that included showing items to potential manufacturers for cost production estimates."  However, instead of bringing the jewelry back, Lederhaas-Okun reported them missing or damaged and resold them. She was charged with one count of interstate transportation of stolen property. So how did Tiffany finally find out?


Lederhaas-Okun was laid off in February and the Company decided to do an inventory which resulted in a finding that 165 items were missing and all check out by the former exec. Normally, Tiffany does a daily inventory of items worth over $25,000 but the complaint stated each item stolen by Lederhaas-Okun was under $10,000.  By pleading guilty, Lederhaas-Okun will pay $2.24 million in restitution to the company and faces up to ten years in prison.

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Forbes: Former Tiffany VP Pleads Guilty To Stealing Over $2 Million Of Jewelry
Reuters: Ex-Tiffany exec pleads guilty to $2.1 million jewelry theft
NYTimes: Ex-Tiffany Executive Pleads Guilty to Stealing Jewelry