For a time, Johar Saran was at the head of one of the largest prescription drug rings in the country. He claimed to own 22 pharmacies in the Dallas area, under cover of which he ordered tremendous quantities of in-demand prescription drugs (codeine cough syrup, for one) then used the supply to fill the orders of a coast-to-coast network of rogue Internet pharmacies. The operation brought in $50,000 per day in pure profit.
All of this made Saran a very wealthy man, one with a taste for ostentatious luxury. He built a gaudy, four-story home that is still, according to this, Arlington's most expensive home. After he was busted by the DEA in 2005, agents found more than $1 million cash stored in boxes stacked throughout the house. They also found lots of very, very pricey jewelry Saran had purchased for his wife.
Saran eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay $68 million in restitution. And all that bling, not to mention the cash and the house, became the possession of the federal government.
The necklace you see above is from his collection. It's 46 carats, made from platinum, and can be yours tomorrow if you're ready to shell out between $125,000 and $162,500. That's when the U.S. Marshals Service will hold its jewelry auction. The U.S. Marshals Service has these types of things a handful of times each year as a way to convert the jewelry, houses, cars, and other property seized from convicted criminals into cold, hard, cash.
Tomorrow's auction is happening from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in San Antonio, but if your wife's taken the private jet to Monaco for the weekend, you can follow along and bid from home. And if you go for the necklace, don't forget the matching earrings, a relative bargain since they are expected to go for just $99,750, max.