She's accused of gold theft

NEW YORK - The vault manager at one of the country's largest affordable fine jewelry manufacturers slowly siphoned off about $12 million worth of gold by concealing small amounts in the lining of her pocketbook, prosecutors said yesterday.

Teresa Tambunting, 50, of suburban Westchester County, has been charged with grand larceny. She was released Tuesday on $100,000 bail.

Tambunting worked for Jacmel Jewelry for nearly 28 years and was given the vault manager job in 1991. Among her responsibilities: Monitor the vault where gold and finished jewelry were stored.

The company discovered in January that nearly $12 million in merchandise was missing. After an investigation began, Tambunting wheeled a suitcase containing 66 pounds of gold worth about $868,000 into the Jacmel office, and a search of her home turned up an additional 450 pounds of gold, prosecutors said.

The thefts occurred between January 2004 and earlier this week, prosecutors said. *