[Summit] Providence Pawn owner charged in buying stolen gold

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Providence Pawn  owner charged in buying stolen gold  
Providence Pawn owner charged in buying  stolen gold
2:28 PM Thu, Sep 15, 2011 |  _Permalink_ 
(http://newsblog.projo.com/2011/09/providence-pawn-owner-charged.html) 
Amanda  Milkovits   (mailto:amilkovi at projo.com)   _Email_ 
(mailto:amilkovi at projo.com)   
 
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The owner of Providence Pawn  is accused by state 
police of buying stolen gold in "off the books"  transactions. 
Florin Mihut, 47, appears in late-night TV  advertisements for his shop at 
1155 North Main St. He's shown riding  around in the store's bright yellow 
"Smart Car" -- "because Providence  Pawn is the smartest place to turn your 
gold, silver, jewelry ... into  lots of cash!"  
State Police Capt. James Demers said that Mihut  was turning gold into cash 
for thieves, and hiding the sales from a  statewide precious metals 
database used by law  enforcement. 
Pawnshops are required by law to record  transactions of jewelry and 
precious metals, including the identities of  the people selling or pawning the 
goods. The records end up in a computer  database run by the attorney 
general's office and accessible only to law  enforcement. 
That way, law enforcement can track whether any  stolen jewelry or precious 
metals are ending up in the shops, as well as  who is selling the items.  
Mihut and Providence Pawn attracted attention  earlier this month, when 
Pawtucket detectives Charles "Chip" Devine and  Hans Cute got a tip that the 
shop was buying stolen gold and asking for  more, said Pawtucket Police Maj. 
Arthur Martins. The informant told the  detectives that Mihut told him that 
he'd keep the sales off the books,  Martins said. 
The Pawtucket detectives told state police, who  sent an undercover trooper 
into the shop on Friday with an  ounce-and-a-half of 10-karat and 14-karat 
gold, worth about $1,150, Demers  said. Gold is valued per troy ounce, which 
equals 31.1  grams. 
Mihut bought the gold for $500, and didn't take  any identification or 
record the transaction, Demers said. "He told him,  Next time around, we'll do 
it the same way -- 'off the books,'" Demers  said. 
The state police went in and arrested Mihut inside  his shop. He was 
charged with attempted larceny, soliciting another to  commit a crime, accepting 
pawns from thieves and failing to request  identification and maintain 
records of pawns.  
Mihut was arraigned by a justice of peace and  released on $5,000 personal 
recognizance. He didn't return a call at his  store  Wednesday.
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