So yesterday when I left my office, there was this cluster of Law standing in the corridor - not right outside my door but down a little bit. They all had on t-shirts that said "IRS-CID" and had shiny gold badges hanging around their necks. Of course I wondered what could be going on, but I didn't want to make myself conspicuous to the IRS (far too much cost and hassle to prove I really don't have anything nefarious to hide) so I glanced over, locked my door and headed homeward.

This morning, I found out via WSB radio what was going on (link). Here is the article:

Feds Indict Jeweler for Money Laundering

ATLANTA (AP) A federal grand jury indicted a jewelry store operator on money laundering charges Wednesday, accusing him of funneling illegal drug profits through two stores in Atlanta. Toros Seher, 38, of Alpharetta was arrested and faced an initial appearance before a U.S. magistrate Thursday morning, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Search warrants were executed at Seher's stores, Chaplin's in downtown Atlanta and Chaplin's Midtown in nearby Atlantic Station. His home in Alpharetta and condominium in Atlantic Station also were searched, authorities said. The indictment alleged that Seher failed to report cash purchases exceeding $10,000, as required by law, and knew that the jewelry sales were being used to launder money from criminal activity. (Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

This "Chaplin's in downtown Atlanta" is 2 floors below my office.

This is not an actual blog contest, because all my friends are S-M-R-T and I'd have to give too many prizes, but you get ONE GUESS as to where Alan bought Helly's diamond-laden wedding band.

He paid cash, too, but we weren't laundering drug money - we were just obtaining wedding bling. Holy crap.