Khaberni - A violent clash erupted between competing jewelers in the famous Diamond District of New York City, following fraud allegations, an incident documented by surveillance cameras and quickly spread widely across social media, prompting police intervention that led to the arrest of two shop owners, while a third party was hospitalized for treatment.
The New York police mentioned that the fight occurred inside a shared commercial space on West 47th Street, involving George Akay (46 years old) and his brother Freddie Akay (42 years old), owners of Akay Diamonds, and competing jeweler and owner of TraxNYC, Maxud Agadzhani (39 years old), amidst the astonishment of shoppers.
According to preliminary investigations and circulated video clips, the incident began when Agadzhani entered the Akay brothers' store angrily, accusing them of taking his money and deceiving his customers, and appeared in the recordings shouting violently and throwing a jewelry bracelet, demanding his money back, and accusing the other party of using his trade name and duping customers.
The clips showed Agadzhani brandishing a purchase receipt in one of the brothers' faces, claiming that the store sold a gold bracelet as 14-carat, while according to him it was no more than 10-carat, emphasizing that such incidents had occurred multiple times before and he had overlooked them in the past.
Security personnel intervened inside the store to attempt to contain the situation, where Agadzhani was removed from the premises, but tensions flared up again moments later, and a violent physical confrontation broke out that ended with a number of people surrounding Agadzhani and assaulting him.
TraxNYC's owner was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he later posted a video showing red marks around his neck, accusing his adversaries of trying to strangle him with the gold chain he was wearing, saying, "They strangled me with my chain because I exposed what they did."
The police stated that the Akay brothers, who came from New Jersey, were charged with assault, while a third person received an official summons without the authorities precisely specifying his role in the brawl.
The investigations indicated that the root of the conflict stems from Agadzhani accusing the brothers of selling jewelry to his customers as if they were under his brand, with manipulation of the gold grade, which he described in a video published a day before the incident as "repeated fraud."
