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NYU freshman stole, sold $51K in luxury items from roomie whose millionaire dad has Putin ties: suit
By Social Links forKathianne BonielloPublished June 15, 2024, 8:47 a.m. ET
This NYU freshman was allegedly earning a degree in grand larceny.
A first-year political science major ripped off roughly $51,000 worth of her roommate’s pricey possessions, including luxe labels such as Gucci, Chanel and Bvlgari — and then hawked them online for a quick buck, according to a lawsuit.
Aurora Agapov — whose Russian mining-magnate father Andre has a net worth of about $75 million and counts a Putin pal on his company’s board of directors — realized some of her belongings were missing last month as she completed her freshman year, according to a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.
Agapov became suspicious of her roommate Kaitlyn Fung, 18, after finding a receipt in the Old Tappan, NJ girl’s pocketbook from consignment retailer The Real Real that listed Agapov’s missing items, according to court papers.
The company has an app and a Soho outlet on Wooster Street.
“My heart dropped,” said Agapov, 19, an arts major who is originally from London.
The two roomies had been “quite good friends” before she discovered her pal was allegedly robbing her blind, Agapov told The Post.
“We spoke pretty much every day. I’d say we didn’t really have any falling outs or anything,” she said.
“If anything our relationship got better towards the second semester.”
When she realized in May the extent of the theft, Agapov told Fung to spend the night elsewhere and moved her own stuff out of their room at NYU’s Founders Hall dorm on East 12th Street.
“I didn’t sleep that night,” she said.
“My mother gifted me those things. They mean a lot to me.”
Fung’s sales skills were as bad as her thievery, the lawsuit alleged, as she massively undervalued the stolen goods she did manage to unload.
Fung is accused of selling Agapov’s Bvlgari necklace — worth $13,000 — for a measly $2,485, and a Chanel Strauss bracelet valued at $2,000 for a pittance of $175, Agopov said in court papers.
Other stolen items were listed for sale but had yet to be purchased by the time Agapov realized what was going on, including a Solange Azagury 18K ruby ring valued at $23,765; a Celine Nanno tote worth $3,300; and a Chanel purse worth $4,000, she said in the legal filing.
Fung also allegedly stole Agapov’s Gucci and Celine handbags, but had the items returned to her, Agapov alleged in the litigation.
Fung was arrested on May 2 on a third-degree grand larceny charge and released.
The criminal case is pending.
When Agapov went to the brick and mortar outpost of The Real Real to get her stuff back, a worker told her Fung’s mom had appeared days earlier to collect the items, she said in court papers.
Fung did not return messages seeking comment.
Agapov is seeking $51,000 in damages and the return of any stolen, but unsold, items.
NYU said it was prohibited by law from revealing disciplinary actions against individual students, but spokesman John Beckman called stealing from a roommate “a lousy thing to do, and a rarity among the 12,000 students we have in student housing,” adding consequences typically include suspension.
The Real Real said it requires consigners to confirm they have the right to sell items and that they are not stolen.
“If we receive any information that items might be stolen, we act fast by removing them from the site and starting an investigation,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
