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By Debbie Dujanovic
Produced by Anne ForesterSALT LAKE CITY -- The world's top designers from Beverly Hills to Manhattan, Germany to Italy say they got taken by a little boutique in Holladay, Utah. Now the store is closed, and designers claim they're out hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewelry.
Local jewelry designer Derek Oldert told KSL, "They had people's goods and they owed people money and have just walked."
New York designer Doris Panos says it's the talk of the industry. "This is beyond everybody's comprehension, everyone in my industry knows about these two ladies," said Panos.
Miles away in New York, Panos asked KSL to help track down and get answers from the two business partners who once ran Envi Jewelers.
Utah attorney Richard Frandsen represents the Jewelers Board of Trade and has been contacted by international designers for help. "What happened with the $750,000 in inventory, perhaps over a million dollars in inventory that just disappeared?" he asked.
Designers are suing Envi to get their money or jewelry back. Court records show designers claim they shipped thousands of dollars worth of jewelry to the Utah store. But Envi failed to make payments, bounced checks and breached contracts.
Designers say when it comes to figuring out what happened to the jewelry, they feel trapped in "who-done-it" mystery.
"When you say 'where's my merchandise,' they kind of point the finger at the other and say ‘she's got it'," said Oldert.
We got the same exact response when we paid a visit to one of Envi's former business partners. The former partner told KSL, "Most of the jewelry, I believe, is with my business partner or my ex-partner."
So, we went to that ex-partner's home, but no luck there either. Though, in court she accused the other partner of taking numerous items from the store. We also found out that some of the jewelry ended up all over the place and the police are involved.
Lt. Don Hutson with the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office said, "It's [Envi] essentially been hemorrhaging cash for the last several months, and I think people start to do some crazy things when they find themselves in financial dire straits."
Detectives believe the two partners turned on each other. They each held their own liquidation sale; selling expensive pieces at bargain prices off store shelves and even out of a car. "We have allegations on both sides that there have been a lot of items stolen and turned in to cash for the personal use of both parties involved," said Hutson.
While deputies are still sorting through the facts in this case, we discovered there's yet another twist. Records reveal that nearly $200,000 worth of the jewelry was auctioned, not by the store but rather by constables. Judges ordered the search and seizure of several pricey pieces to settle up past legal judgments against Envi.
As we were preparing our report for air, both of Envi's business partners contacted KSL 5. In separate conversations both stood by claims that the other one took the remaining jewelry. Yet, both denied doing that. As for the liquidation sales, one said she used the money to pay off company investors, the other said she used it to make payroll and pay something to designers.
When we asked if designers can expect to get any money or jewelry back, both business partners said no.
In the meantime, detectives continue to collect information, but add this may wind up being a civil, not criminal matter.
E-mail: iteam@ksl.com
