Fake Hasidim Rob Jewelry Store

Sometimes life does actually imitate art. Jewelers Atul Shah, 48, and Mahaveer Kankariya, 43, have been charged with setting up a robbery of their own store similar to a heist pulled in Guy Ritchie's film Snatch. The jewelers allegedly hired gunmen to dress up like Orthodox Jews and burgle their store, for the insurance money. According to the police, two gunmen in black coats, hats, and fake beards waltzed past security using fake IDs in broad daylight on December 31, 2008, then pulled a gun on Shah and another employee, duct taped them together to make the robbery look real, and "cleaned out" the safe. Shah and Kankariya claimed that the robbers, who are still at large, made off with $4 million in diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and jewelry. The police say they have evidence that the jewelers "removed the jewelry from the location before the robbery," and have charged them with grand larceny, insurance fraud, and falsifying business records.