Politics & Government

Lakeforest Mall Shop Owner Convicted in Fencing Scheme

Sentencing set for Thursday for Royal Jewelers owner Kyong Cha Fromme

A jewelry store owner convicted of fencing stolen goods at Lakeforest Mall is scheduled for sentencing Thursday in Montgomery County Circuit Court.

Kyong Cha “Mrs. Kay” Fromme, of Columbia, Md., was found guilty of failing to keep proper records of jewelry pawned at her shop, the now-closed Royal Jewelers, and failing to submit the business transactions to law enforcement as required under Maryland law.

Instead, police allege, Fromme paid cash for the loot and made frequent trips to New York to melt down the jewelry, some of which she kept hidden in a lunch box, according to records filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court.

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Fromme will also be sentenced Thursday for a similar conviction stemming from a September investigation by Gaithersburg Police, who claimed she paid more than $4,000 for jewelry without properly documenting the transaction, court records state.

Mark J. Muffoletto was listed as Fromme’s attorney; Assistant State’s Attorney Steve Chaikin is prosecuting the case.

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Under an agreement, the attorneys are proposing a sentence of probation to six months incarceration, according to State’s Attorney’s Office Spokesman Seth Zucker.

Police were tipped off in June, when they arrested the so-called lunch-break burglar Andrew Tyler Olden, in Germantown who, according to his own court testimony, burglarized Upcounty homes during his lunch breaks in order to fuel a heroin addiction.

Olden and his girlfriend Kayla Myers told police that they went to see “Mrs. Kay” at Lakeforest Mall because she never asked for identification and always paid them in cash, court records state.

Olden claimed that Fromme would call him to find out when he was bringing in jewelry. The drug-addicted couple claimed they received more than $2,000 on one of the transactions.


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