Jeweler to hip-hop royalty accused of fleecing business partner out of $3 million

A renowned jeweler to hip-hop stars and professional athletes, who has created luxury bling for everyone from Jay-Z to Busta Rhymes to Diddy to MLB legend Derek Jeter, is accused of ripping off his onetime business partner – creator of a $12,000 pen inspired by The Godfather films – by nearly $3 million, according to court filings obtained by The Independent.

Jacob Arabo, who was given the moniker “Jacob the Jeweler” by late client Biggie Smalls, started out with a small booth in New York City’s Diamond District, and, following a 30-month prison stint for obstructing a federal drug investigation, today presides over a business with “well over” $150 million in annual revenue, watchmaker Vadim Lampert says in a lawsuit dated February 6.

The complaint, filed in Manhattan County Supreme Court, contends the 60-year-old Arabo, a Bukharan immigrant born Yakov Arabov who has been name-checked in more than 100 songs to date, including Kanye West’s “Diamonds from Sierra Leone,” sold more than $24 million worth of Lampert’s “Godfather”-themed pens since 2022. However, it alleges, Arabo’s company, Jacob & Co., has shorted Lambert and his Garnet Trade, Inc. by seven figures in commissions and royalties owed for the sales.

Specifically, Lambert’s complaint claims Arabo improperly used Godfather pens “as ‘throw-ins’” to favored clients, ultimately reducing Lampert’s cut by as much as 80 percent.

“By treating the pen in such sales as a ‘throw in’ – i.e. adding the pen to the deal ostensibly for free (or at half price or other significant discount) to sweeten the offer and close the sale – JacobCo failed to pay the full amount of the fees, commissions, and royalties owed to Garnet on these sales,” the complaint states. ‘Instead, to the extent these sales were reported to Garnet, JacobCo paid only $250 per pen as Garnet’s commission, instead of paying the full $1,200 commission owed for each pen.”

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Lampert, who “implicitly trusted and respected” Arabo, says his former associate "intentionally circumvented” their agreement by doing this, and is now demanding restitution of “not less than $2.7 million.”

Arabo did not respond on Monday to requests for comment sent to his business and personal email addresses. Lampert’s attorney, Michael Paul Bowen, declined to comment on the case.

Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Arabo moved to Queens, New York, with his family at the age of 14. A longtime jewelry and timepiece connoisseur, Arabo went into business for himself and his flashy designs quickly amassed a loyal following among celebrities and others who could afford a $5.5 million watch, a $12 million necklace, and, on the lower end, a $40,000 white gold bracelet shaped like a single handcuff.

In 2006, Arabo found himself facing federal money laundering charges over allegations he helped a Detroit-based drug trafficking ring hide about $270 million in profits. He pleaded guilty the following year to falsifying records in order to obstruct a federal drug investigation and making false statements to federal agents and the U.S. Attorney’s Office as part of a deal with prosecutors. In 2024, Arabo was named as a co-defendant in a lawsuit brought against Sean “Diddy” Combs, by a woman who claimed the rap impresario forced her to have sex with Arabo at a party in the Hamptons. (The case remains ongoing.)

Arabo, according to his website, “has partnered with the best of the best,” such as supercar manufacturer Bugatti and iconic footballer Lionel Messi.

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In September 2020, Lampert’s complaint asserts, Arabo solicited him to sell his “premium pens, watches and similar luxury items” through the Jacob & Co. retail network.

“The two developed close business ties, and Lampert implicitly trusted and respected Arabov,” the complaint states. “For years, pursuant to the parties’ contract, [Lampert] developed and created product ideas for JacobCo with respect to high-end pens, watches, including three models of the Khabib Time watch, concepts for designer liquor bottles and labels, engraved watch dials, luxury men’s leather goods, and similar items.”

Notably, Lampert “conceived and created the Godfather pen, a limited-edition pen handcrafted in Italy by Montegrappa and sold by JacobCo,” according to the complaint.

Pursuant to their agreement, Lampert brokered new distribution channels for Jacob & Co. products, negotiating deals in September 2022 with Wempe, a large retailer in the U.S. and Europe, and Ethos Ltd., India’s largest chain of luxury watch boutiques, the complaint continues.

In October 2022, Jacob & Co. started selling Lampert’s “Godfather” pen, earning Arabo tens of millions of dollars in revenue, the complaint goes on.

The limited-edition pen “is a tribute to The Godfather's imagery, symbols and authors Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, who laid out the ground for the accomplishment of this story,” Jacob & Co.’s description of the item reads. “A collection made up of a red fountain pen and a charcoal gray rollerball pen, whose body, cap, pin and case all bear the mark of The Godfather's main symbols: a rose, a bullet, a revolver barrel and the famous movie poster with its puppeteer strings.”

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But, it says, Arabo has “never paid any of the royalties owed” to Lampert for sales of the Godfather pens, also a violation of their agreement. According to the complaint, Arabo gave away “hundreds” of the pens for free, or sold them at deep discounts, to incentivize existing customers and “to avoid paying commissions, royalties and fees” to Lampert. The complaint accuses Arabo of having “intentionally circumvented” his obligations to Lampert, who says he never okayed the move.

Further, the complaint goes on, Arabo “unilaterally” reduced Lampert’s commissions on sales through Ethos stores from 10 percent to 2 percent, then in mid-2025 stopped paying him fees on Wempe and Ethos sales altogether.

“When [Lampert] raised questions about whether [Arabo] has paid correct amounts… for the Godfather pens and Ethos sales, [Arabo] ceased responding to [Lampert],” the complaint states.

The agreement the two signed can only be terminated upon 30-days written notice, or in the event of fraud, theft, or breach of fiduciary duty, according to the complaint, which says Lampert never received any notice and “fully performed” all of his obligations to Arabo.

Lampert is seeking “full and complete financial information” from Arabo “related to the amount of commissions, royalties, and fees” owed him on the Godfather pens, as well a complete accounting of sales via Wempe and Ethos.

The “various breaches” by Arabo, according to Lampert’s complaint, damaged Lampert and his company “in an amount to be determined at trial that is not less than $2.7 million.” Lampert is also asking for pre-judgment interest, attorneys’ fees, and “all other consequential damages, including costs and disbursements of this action.”

Arabo now has roughly three weeks to formally respond to Lampert’s claims.