PROVIDENCE – A Providence pawn shop owner is facing charges after prosecutors alleged he purchased 108 Tiffany & Co. gold rings valued at $378,000 last year that he knew were stolen from a Warwick-based UPS center.
Mohamed Bahra, 58, of Lincoln, was arrested Thursday on one count of knowingly receiving 26.3 ounces of stolen 18 karat gold; one count of failing to require proof of identification for sellers of precious metals; and one count of failure to keep proper sales records, according to the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office.
Prosecutors allege a UPS employee stole the gold rings from the shipping giant’s Warwick center on July 31, 2023 and then sold the jewelry to Bahra at Four C’s Pawn Shop in Providence for $12,384.
“Subsequently, on Aug. 1, 2023, the defendant brought the rings to Glines and Rhodes, a precious metal refinery in Attleboro, Mass., and left them to be weighed and examined,” officials said. “At that time, an employee of the refinery contacted Tiffany & Co. security, who verified that the rings were stolen and should have been delivered to a Providence jewelry store.”
Investigators ultimately confirmed with the high-end jeweler the rings had a total estimated retail value of about $378,000, according to the attorney general’s office.
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Prosecutors allege Bahra told Warwick police on Aug. 18, 2023 he purchased the rings from the UPS worker, and that the employee confirmed 10 days later he stole the rings and sold them to Bahra.
“Finally, on Jan. 16, 2024, [Bahra] met with investigators from the Office of the Attorney General where he again admitted to purchasing the rings from the UPS employee but could not produce a copy of the seller’s identification, nor a copy of a properly completed Precious Metals Unit report form, both of which are required by law,” officials said.
Bahra is scheduled to appear in Providence County Superior Court on Nov. 27 for a pre-arraignment conference, according to prosecutors.
Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.