Diamond Dealer Pleads Guilty for Swapping Naturals With Lab-Growns

By Rob Bates | March 04, 2025

On Feb. 27, New York City diamond dealer Manashe Sezanayev, 41, pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court to one count of grand larceny in the second degree, for allegedly trying to defraud two diamond merchants by swapping their natural stones with lab-grown look-alikes.

Under the terms of his plea, Sezanayev, the former owner of Rachel’s Diamonds on 47th Street, will likely be sentenced to five years’ probation and pay $200,000 in restitution, according to a statement from the office of Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg. Sezanayev has returned one of the natural diamonds involved, the statement said.

Sezanayev was charged last July in connection with two incidents. In the first, according to the DA’s office, a diamond merchant visited Sezanayev’s office on Feb. 5, 2024, and showed him two diamonds, valued at approximately $185,000 and $75,000. When Sezanayev turned his back on the merchant to weigh the gems on his scale, he swapped the original diamonds for lab-growns that had been cut to resemble the naturals, complete with fake GIA inscriptions, the DA said.

In the second incident, after telling a diamond merchant on March 27, 2024, that he was interested in a $200,000 diamond, Sezanayev purchased a lab-grown stone and had recut it to resemble the natural and inscribed with a phony GIA inscription, according to prosecutors. When Sezanayev met with the merchant the following week, he took the natural diamond to inspect it but returned the lab-grown to the dealer instead of the original, the DA said.

“Manashe Sezanayev is facing accountability for stealing diamonds from merchants and replacing them with fake stones,” Bragg said in the statement (using verbiage many in the lab-grown industry object to). “We will continue to prosecute those who take advantage of consumers and conduct business deals in a dishonest manner.”

Sezanayev’s lawyer, Boris Nektalov, tells JCK via email: “Mr. Sezanayev has accepted responsibly by pleading guilty and made significant restitution to the victim in this case. At this point he wants to move forward with his life and put this behind him.”

In 2018, Sezanyev had pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme to defraud wholesalers.

(Photo: Getty Images)