A Providence pawn shop owner has been charged in Sixth Division District Court in Providence with buying 108 18 karat gold rings, valued at $378,000, that he knew to be stolen, following an investigation by the attorney general’s office. The rings were reportedly stolen from the UPS Center in Warwick.

On Aug. 29, investigators from the attorney general’s office arrested Mohamed Bahra, 58, of Lincoln, Rhode Island and charged him with one count of knowingly receiving 26.3 ounces of stolen 18 karat gold, one count of failing to require proof of identification for sellers of precious metals and one count of failure to keep proper sales records.

As alleged in court records, on July 31, 2023, a UPS employee stole 26.3 ounces of 18 karat gold rings from a UPS center in Warwick. The employee then went to the Four C’s Pawn Shop in Providence where he sold the rings to the defendant for $12,384. Subsequently, on Aug. 1, 2023, the defendant brought the rings to Glines & Rhodes, a precious metal refinery in Attleboro, Massachusetts, and left them to be weighed and examined. At that time, an employee of the refinery contacted Tiffany & Co. security, who verified that the rings were stolen and should have been delivered to a Providence jewelry store. Investigators later confirmed with Tiffany’s that the estimated retail value of the rings was approximately $378,000.

As alleged, on Aug. 18, 2023, the defendant spoke to Warwick Police and admitted to purchasing the rings from the UPS employee. On Aug. 28, 2023, the UPS employee confirmed that he stole the rings and sold them to the defendant for $12,384. Finally, on Jan. 16, 2024, the defendant met with investigators from the attorney general’s office where he again admitted to purchasing the rings from the UPS employee but could not produce a copy of the seller’s identification, nor a copy of a properly completed Precious Metals Unit report form, both of which are required by law.Investigator William Piva led the investigation on behalf of the attorney general’s office.

The defendant is scheduled for a pre-arraignment conference on Nov. 27, 2024, in Providence County Superior Court.