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PROVO — Prosecutors in Utah County have filed more criminal charges against a California jeweler already accused of defrauding one victim by giving her fake Monet and Van Gogh paintings and for allegedly selling lab-grown diamonds to at least two other people after saying they were natural diamonds.
William David Leavitt, 54, of Carlsbad, California, was charged Thursday in 4th District Court with communications fraud and criminal solicitation, second-degree felonies. He was previously charged with three counts of communications fraud and eight counts of criminal simulation, second-degree felonies, in three other cases.
In his latest charges, Leavitt is accused of selling a pink diamond that he assured the victim "was very rare and only available because he had a client who lost money on a 'crypto currency' deal," court documents state.
Leavitt claimed the diamond was worth over $1 million and that he had a certificate on the diamond, and told the victim he would sell it for $659,000, according to charging documents.
The victim ultimately purchased the diamond for $250,000.
"It was later discovered that the diamond was not pink in color but rather was yellow and had been coated with a substance making it appear pink. The International Gemological Institute appraised and valued the diamond at $31,685," the charges state.
In February, Leavitt was accused of defrauding a Utah woman out of hundreds of thousands of dollars of jewelry, watches and other items by giving her paintings he said were made by Vincent Van Gogh, Salvador Dali and Claude Monet but turned out to be fake.
In April, he was charged again with selling lab-grown diamonds while claiming they were natural diamonds.
