Wild moment NYC jeweler attacks 'scammer' rival and claims he is impersonating him
A confrontation in a New York City jewelry store erupted in violence after prominent jeweler Maksud Agadjani accused a rival shop of impersonating his business and scamming customers.
A violent brawl erupted inside a New York City jewelry store after a business owner accused a rival of impersonating his company and scamming customers.
The dispute took place inside the shared space TraxNYC and Akay Diamonds occupy in Manhattan's Diamond District on Friday afternoon.
Owner Maksud Agadjani, 39, posted a series of videos showing him confronting one of the Akay brothers who own another jewelry store, identified as AKAY Diamonds.
George Akay, 46, and his brother Freddy, 42, both from New Jersey, were charged with assault, police said.
In the footage, Agadjani alleges the Akay's falsely used his company's name to sell customers gold jewelry that was being misrepresented in quality.
The videos posted to Agadjani's 3.5 million followers quickly circulated online, drawing attention to the cutthroat world of New York's jewelry trade.
In the video, Agadjani storms up to the worker and unleashes a furious verbal attack, accusing the rival of stealing his name, misleading customers, and selling inferior gold while claiming it matched TraxNYC's standards.
'Where's my money?' Agadjani shouted in the video. 'Motherf******, you said VVS 14 [karat], and you're using my name, you b****! You f***ing thief!'
The footage shows Agadjani yelling at both the employee and nearby security staff as he alleges fraud in broad daylight.
A heated showdown inside New York City's Diamond District has gone viral after a jeweler accused a rival of impersonation and fraud
The confrontation inside the shared space TraxNYC and Akay Diamonds share escalated into violence with security personnel called after jeweler Maksud Agadjani exploded at his rival, one of owner brothers of AKAY Diamonds
Maksud Agadjani, 39, of TraxNYC jewelry is seen, left. George Akay, 46, of the Akay brothers from Akay Diamonds is pictured, right
In a follow-up video, Agadjani offers some additional context, holding up what he described as a receipt from the rival company.
'This is the receipt of this disgusting company,' he said, dangling the paper in front of the camera. 'They sold my customer their bracelet and ripped him off.'
Agadjani explains how the customer had gone looking for jewelry from TraxNYC, but an employee at AKAY Diamonds allegedly told him the pieces were the same quality.
Agadjani claimed he later tested the bracelet and discovered it was 10-karat gold - not the 14-karat gold the customer believed he had purchased.
'This is the receipt of this disgusting company that pretends to be me,' Agadjani said in the video.