Ex-Tiffany exec pleads guilty in jewelry thefts
AP By TOM HAYS
NEW YORK -- A former executive with Tiffany & Co. pleaded guilty on Friday to charges she stole an assortment of little blue box bling worth more than $2 million from the famous Fifth Avenue jeweler's inventory.
Appearing in federal court in Manhattan, Ingrid Lederhaas-Okun admitted she had stashed the jewelry in her home in Darien, Conn., where she was arrested earlier this month.
"I knew it was illegal to steal, and I did so regardless. ... I'm very sorry," the 46-year-old told a judge before pleading guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen property.
As vice president of product development, Lederhaas-Okun had authority to check out jewelry from Tiffany to provide to potential manufacturers to determine production costs. Authorities alleged that after she left Tiffany in February, the company discovered she had checked out 164 items that were never returned.
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