PALM SPRINGS, Fla. (CBS12) — A 25-year-old Palm Springs man was arrested late Sunday after deputies say he used counterfeit gold bars to fraudulently obtain two Rolex watches valued at approximately $20,000.
Oleksandr Yakubov was taken into custody on April 12 following a traffic stop near his residence in Palm Springs after investigators with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office say he engaged in a scheme to defraud a watch dealer through a series of transactions conducted in western Palm Beach County earlier this month.
According to an arrest affidavit, the investigation began after the victim, identified as a LaBelle-based watch dealer, reported that he was contacted through Facebook by a man using the name “Larry Western” to negotiate the purchase of a Rolex watch. The two agreed to meet on April 11 in a Publix parking lot along Southern Boulevard in Loxahatchee Groves, where Yakubov allegedly traded what he claimed was a 24-karat gold bar for a Rolex watch…