Charlotte, N.C.—It sounds like a scene from a heist film, but for one North Carolina jeweler, it was all too real.
Two Mississippi men—Robert Lewis Elliott III, 36, and Devin Alonzo Elliott, 30—are facing federal charges after allegedly pulling off a counterfeit cash scam that cost a Pineville retailer nearly $300,000 in high-end watches and jewelry.
The indictment, unsealed Sept. 25, describes an elaborate scheme. The men traveled from Mississippi to North Carolina in late June, setting their sights on Solitaire Jewelry at the Carolina Place Mall. On June 26, they told staff they wanted to spend $300,000 and left a $1,000 deposit—hardly raising suspicion.
The next day, the real trick began. According to prosecutors, Robert Elliott allegedly used a sleight-of-hand swap: presenting a stack of genuine $100 bills to be counted, then discreetly replacing them with counterfeit bills after they had been verified by a counterfeit detection pen. The same set of genuine bills was recycled over and over until the store’s safe was stacked with fakes.
Meanwhile, the employees thought they had just secured payment for a massive sale. Instead, Robert and Devin allegedly walked out with an inventory haul that included:
- A Patek Philippe diamond watch worth $90,000
- An Audemars Piguet watch valued at $48,000
- A Cartier watch priced at $25,000
- Four Rolexes totaling $76,300
- A rose gold Cuban link chain worth $32,000
- A gold bracelet ($17,500), bangle bracelet ($8,200), and earrings worth several thousand
Together, the loot represented some of the most desirable brands in the watch and jewelry world.
By the time the store clerk asked for Robert’s ID to finalize the sale, it was too late. He allegedly claimed he left it in his car—then fled the store with Devin, watches and jewelry in hand.
Both men were later arrested and released on bond. If convicted, they face up to five years for conspiracy and 20 years for passing counterfeit obligations.
Industry Take
This case underscores a growing security dilemma for luxury retailers. Despite detection pens, electronic counters, and procedural checks, human manipulation—especially involving sleight of hand—remains a major vulnerability.
High-value jewelry transactions increasingly depend on tighter safeguards: multiple staff oversight, bank wire requirements for purchases over a threshold, or in-store security trained specifically to detect “cash swap” scams.
For the watch and jewelry sector, the reputational stakes are high. Losing inventory worth hundreds of thousands not only damages margins but raises questions: How prepared are luxury retailers for increasingly sophisticated fraud?