Milwaukee area jewelery Harry C. Glinberg has been charged with money laundering, and has been accused of significantly underreporting his income to the IRS. He was arrested last week and is currently free on a signature bond.

Glinberg is accused of selling expensive jewelry to drug dealers for cash. The jewelry store is known for selling watches costing thousands of dollars, including diamond encrusted watches that retail for $30,000.

IRS agents from the Criminal Investigation Division subpoenaed Glinberg’s business records in 2002. They allege that the records show sales to at least two indicted drug dealers.

Glinberg was allegedly informed that he must complete and remit to the Federal government forms documenting cash transactions over $10,000. The law also requires merchants to NOT allow customers to make multiple smaller payments in order to avoid the $10,000 reporting threshhold. These forms are used to aid in the investigation of people who transact in large sums of cash. It is alleged that Glinberg has filed only one of those forms since 1998, even though several witnesses turned over jewelry worth more than $10,000 that was admittedly purchased from Glinberg with cash from drug sales.

The tax fraud allegations include Glinberg’s reported business income of only $10,670 in 2004. His lifestlye allegedly far exceeds that sum, with a $770,000 home in Mequon, a Hummer, a Honda Odyssey, a camper and a 1997 Cadillac DeVille.