A violent brawl between competing jewelers in Manhattan’s Diamond District on Friday afternoon resulted in two business owners being handcuffed and one taken to the hospital.
George Akai, 46, and his brother Freddie, 42, were arrested for allegedly assaulting Maqsud Aghajani, the owner of the rival store TraxNYC, during a heated confrontation at a shared business location on West 47th Street, according to authorities.
Video footage that circulated on social media captured the chaos after Aghajani, 39, entered the Akai Diamonds store and accused the brothers of cheating him and his clients.
With anger evident, Aghajani demanded, “Where’s my money?” as he shook the jewelry counter and slammed down a bracelet in front of the Akai brothers.
His fury escalated as he shouted, “Where’s my money, bitch! I got this damn bracelet. What are you going to do?!”—broadcasting the confrontation to his 3.3 million followers on social media.
The video later showed Aghajani waving a receipt in front of one of the brothers, accusing him of being a thief. Despite security attempting to calm the situation and escort him out, he kept yelling.
Another clip revealed that the brothers reportedly spat at Aghajani, which led to a larger group confronting him, resulting in him being outnumbered and taken down.
Aghajani was later hospitalized at Bellevue, posting a video with visible red marks on his neck and claiming, “They strangled me with their own chains for exposing their deeds.”
The Akai brothers, who are from New Jersey, are facing assault charges, according to the police.
The clash began after Aghajani alleged that the businesses sold the same products and claimed he had sold bracelets to consumers. He mentioned, in an earlier Instagram video, that buyers were misled into thinking they were purchasing items that weighed 14 carats when, in actuality, they were only 10 carats.
“This is a receipt from this disgusting company that is pretending to be me,” Aghajani said in his video, asserting that the Akai brothers had been repeatedly cheating his customers while he remained silent.
Attempts to reach Aghajani and the Akai brothers for comment were unsuccessful.
