SEQUIM — The Sequim Police Department is investigating the theft of more than $100,000 through a jewelry and coin business.
Officers with the Sequim police and the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team (OPNET) served a search warrant on Aug. 29 at Gold Rush Jewelry and Coin, 425 E. Washington St., Suite 3. They arrested a suspect but released him as he declined an interview, Sequim Police Chief Mike Hill said.
The officers’ investigation remains ongoing.
Hill said the police department likely will send potential charges to the Clallam County Prosecutor’s Office for unlawful issuance of checks of drafts more than $750, first-degree theft and second-degree theft.
“It’s a rather large case because of the number of victims and the amount of money we’re dealing with,” Hill said.
Officers have been investigating for several months after multiple reports of customers selling, buying or consigning precious metals and being paid either in full or in part, and that checks allegedly had insufficient funds.
Hill said 19 alleged victims reported they have been left without their precious metals or the money owed. The 19th person came forward while officers were conducting the search warrant.
“We’ve actually talked to him about earlier cases and now it’s snowballed and has became more frequent,” Hill said.
The man does not have a business license in the city of Sequim, and Hill said he had been operating without one for several months.
The investigation is a separate process from operating illegally, but the man could be fined or face a possible misdemeanor charge if he continues to operate without a license, Hill said.
Alleged theft of this magnitude is rare in the city, Hill said, as Sequim police investigations tend to focus on financial exploitation of individual elders.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
