Devendra Kumar
A seasoned jewel thief, Yaorong Wan, has been arrested in connection with a string of high-end jewelry heists from Florida to South Korea. The most recent crime took place on March 4th at a Tiffany store in New York’s Rockefeller Center complex. Wan, 49, entered the store and asked to see several pieces, including a diamond ring worth $255,000. After taking the ring off the display case, he left the store without making a purchase. It wasn’t until a week later, when store employees conducted a routine inventory, that it was discovered the ring had been replaced with a fake cubic zirconia replica.
Further investigation revealed that Wan had been caught on surveillance footage slipping the genuine ring into his palm and switching it with the fake. Detectives also found that Wan had committed a similar theft at a Cartier store in the Hudson Yards complex in Manhattan on March 12th. In this case, he simply pocketed the $25,000 diamond ring without leaving a fake in its place.
Wan was arrested on Friday and arraigned on Saturday in Manhattan criminal court on grand larceny charges. His arrest comes with a laundry list of outstanding warrants and suspected crimes. He has open arrest warrants in New Jersey and Nassau County on Long Island, and is a suspect in thefts from Cartier stores in California and Florida. Furthermore, Wan is wanted in South Korea on suspicion of stealing from high-end jewelry stores. Assistant District Attorney Eliana Ramelson stated during Wan’s arraignment that the 49-year-old has a remarkable ability to commit crimes across the globe, making him a formidable and elusive jewel thief.
As authorities continue to unravel the extent of Wan’s criminal activities, it becomes clear that his success in evading capture is due in part to his ability to adapt and change his tactics. From switching high-end jewelry with fake replicas to simply pocketing the valuable items, Wan has demonstrated an impressive range of skills in the field of jewel thievery. As investigators work to bring Wan to justice, it remains to be seen what other secrets may be uncovered about his extensive and global criminal network.