Top Stories Milwaukee

By Drew Deubner

They were two of the town’s top style setters, who, bizarrely enough, were charged with stealing more than $237,070 in jewelry that had been purchased with money embezzled by Sujata “Sue” Sachdeva from the Koss Corp. Antonio “Tony” Chakonas, 44, was a friend of Sachdeva and a fashion stylist for M Magazine, while Garrett Gharibeh, 24, is a fashion model and frequent emcee at charitable fundraisers. Could these trendsetters be thieves?

Yesterday the charges were dropped against the two, but there could be later action taken against them. “The government moves to dismiss without prejudice the complaint to allow it to investigate further the allegations against the defendants prior to making a final prosecutorial decision and, if appropriate, presenting the matter to the grand jury for charging,” assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Jacobs said in a court filing.

Certainly, the two men seem to have connections to both Sachdeva and the jewelry store from which the jewelry in question was taken.

Sachdeva was convicted last year for stealing $34 million from Koss, the local headphone manufacturer she worked for, and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. She is currently serving her sentence in Danbury, Conn. Her expensive taste in jewelry, cars and clothing led her to amass millions in watches, mink coats and other extravagant trinkets.

As part of her plea bargain, Sachdeva helped compile a dossier that documents all the items, including thousands of individual pieces of jewelry. But it appears a few gems fell through the cracks.

According to the warrant against the Chakonas and Gharibeh, Chakonas was employed by a jewelry store frequented by Sachdeva. The FBI report says Sachdeva used embezzled funds to pay for upwards of $460,000 in merchandise from the store. When she was indicted in Dec. 2010, the store still had 11 items, worth a total of $237,070 that were purchased but left at the shop by Sachdeva.

The case file refers to the jewelry store owner as “C.S.”, and someone close to the case confirmed this is Cynthia Stoll, the owner of Whitefish Bay’s Lake Hill House Jewelers, a private (by appointment only) store. NewsBuzz has also learned that Chakonas was an employee there. Chakonas has been written about and pictured with Cynthia Stoll, the store’s owner, in numerous local media outlets. Gharibeh, Stoll and Chakonas were described as “pals” in a story in the Shepherd Express.

Chakonas told investigators he had received direction from Michael Hart, Sachdeva’s lawyer, to transfer the jewelry purchased by her to Hart, and that the owner of the jewelry store, presumably Stoll, gave Chakonas the 11 items, along with $800 in cash, to give to Hart. However, Hart states he was not aware of the existence of the jewelry and had not requested anything from Chakonas.

Garrett Gharibeh (photo by josh benishek)

With the items in tow, Chakonas and Gharibeh headed for Chicago with the intent of auctioning off the jewelry. According to the indictment, the pair passed the jewelry off as family heirlooms belonging to Gharibeh’s mother and grandmother. After a few trips to Chicago, the duo ended up in handcuffs.

While it’s not clear what role, if any, Sachdeva had in this attempt at fraudulent sales, this new discovery of more than $400,000 worth of items not claimed in her dossier may make matters worse for her.

Chakonas, a longtime freelancer for M Magazine as a stylist for fashion photographs, listed himself as an “antique jewelry dealer” in a July 2008 interview with the magazine. Chakonas was also pictured leaving Sachdeva’s sentencing at the Milwaukee Federal Courthouse in November.

“My closet is full of Yves Saint Laurent,” he said in the M Magazine article. His fashion philosophy is simply put: “Never buy cheap shoes.”

Gharibeh is a popular face at gatherings of Milwaukee’s hip young arts lovers, and has emceed a number of fundraisers around town. He is a frequent model who has appeared in M Magazine, sometimes styled by Chakonas.

The pair has been seen at different black-tie events around town, including the Milwaukee Art Museum’s “Art in Bloom” exhibit in April 2010. Chakonas and Sachdeva were behind 2007’s “Symphony Style” event, featuring haute couture, cocktails and a high-price auction. Chakonas took the reins of the 2008 and 2009 events, and was described as “ubiquitous” with the event in a Shepherd Express.

Gharibeh’s looks wowed blogger Susan Kerns, who writes for insidemilwaukee.com. “Could Garrett be any handsomer?” she wrote. “He could melt hell he’s so hot.”

Charles Bohl, an attorney representing Stoll, returned a phone call NewsBuzz made to Stoll, and said he had no comment on the case as it is still in litigation. She is cooperating with authorities, Bohl adds.

M Magazine had no comment on either Chakonas’ or Gharibeh’s arrest. According to the magazine, Chakonas worked as a freelancer on an as-needed basis. Chakonas’ work with the magazine has been published as recently as March.

The magazine is based in Cedarburg and owned by Conley Media, which also owns the Waukesha Freeman, the Oconomowoc Enterprise and House and Home Magazine, among others. Conley Media, owned by Jim Conley, has been plagued by financial issues, as the Freeman and West Bend Daily News announced in March 2009 they would stop printing Monday editions. Conley started Northshore Lifestyle in the mid-1990s, and the magazine evolved into M about five years ago. While originally starting with West, City and North Shore editions, the magazine killed the city edition in 2008.

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