Busted! $12 Million Stolen from Jewelry Manufacturer

Talk about a golden parachute. When Jacmel Jewelry hired Teresa Tambunting 27 years ago, little did they know that she would steal over $12 million of their gold – right under their noses.

The Scarsdale mom and Vault Manager (of all things) was busted for stealing millions in gold and jewels by slipping them out piece-by-piece in her purse lining, prosecutors said.

The 50-year-old woman hoarded her treasure trove in five-gallon buckets in her basement, according to law enforcement sources.

The theft began to unravel in January, when the company audited its Long Island City headquarters vault and discovered $12 million in inventory missing, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.

When Tambunting got wind of the audit, she decided to confess, arriving at work in early February dragging luggage bags filled with some of the stash.

"The first time, she returned one bag with eighty pounds of fine gold. Then, on another occasion (one week later) she came back with another bag," Jacmel president Jack Rahmey told New York Daily News.

"She confessed she had been stealing for some time."

Ummm, yeah.

"With gold trading at nearly $900 an ounce, the defendant is accused of establishing a virtual mining operation in Long Island City which siphoned off millions of dollars' worth of the precious metal from her employer," District Attorney Richard Brown said.

She is expected to argue through her lawyer that she has a form of obsessive compulsive disorder, one source said.

Yeah, she obsessively wanted to get rich and was compelled to bite the hand that fed her.

The Queen of the Cleptos faces up to 25 years in prison, if convicted, and was released on $100,000 bail Wednesday.

What do you think should happen to her? Does sticky finger syndrome deserve 25 years? What about her confession? Should that bear some weight? Weigh in!

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