A 46-year-old accused of running a fake diamond company that allegedly swindled victims out of more than $300,000 appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court for the first time since announcing a transition to identifying as a woman.
Alex Borders sat before Judge Michelle Rodney on Thursday morning for a control hearing, wearing what appeared to be mascara and blush with a baggy sweatshirt and sweats. Borders remained silent while the defense attorney and state prosecutor conferred at the bench for several minutes. The judge adjourned the case until November 6.
After the hearing, Borders headed toward the elevators with the defense lawyer, and appeared to wag a finger at a photographer in the hallway before partially shielding her face as the elevator doors opened. The gesture captured the defiant tone of a defendant facing nine criminal charges, including two counts of grand larceny, one count of fraud, and six misdemeanor counts of issuing bad checks.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced the charges in November 2024. Prosecutors allege Borders operated under the alias "Alex Hollinger" and created a sham business called Hollinger Diamonds. The alleged scheme ran from August 2023 through May 2024, roughly nine months.
The operation worked like this, the Daily Mail reported: Borders allegedly purchased full-page color advertisements in Condé Nast publications, including The New Yorker and GQ, promising customers instant cash for their jewelry. Victims mailed their valuables to a Midtown Manhattan address. Borders then allegedly handed them checks that bounced, drawn from accounts that were either closed or lacked sufficient funds.
The checks for the advertisements themselves also bounced. Condé Nast is among the victims.
At least five victims told investigators they found Borders' business through those magazine ads or the company website, where Borders had identified as a man and used the pronoun "he." Once victims realized they had been scammed, Borders allegedly vanished, not returning jewelry, not answering calls, not responding to any contact.
The indictment statement from the DA's office laid out the scope plainly:
"As alleged, Alex Borders went to extreme lengths to create a purported diamond company and steal from consumers, magazine publications and an employee who put in hours of work for zero pay."
The human cost goes beyond the $300,000 headline figure. Victims described bank accounts driven into the red and savings wiped out. Some were forced into homelessness.
In January 2024, prosecutors say, Borders hired a foreign national to work for the company. The employee was never paid. Checks issued for wages bounced, leaving the worker allegedly owed more than $3,000. The worker's nationality has not been disclosed publicly.
Borders was arrested on November 6 and pleaded not guilty to all charges. A judge granted bail.
Then, just weeks after the arrest, the defense attorney told the court that Borders had begun "identifying as a woman." The attorney later stated that Borders was being held at the Rose M. Singer Center on Rikers Island, the jail complex's women-only facility.
Thursday's appearance was procedural. No substantive rulings were announced. The defense attorney approached the bench, whispered with the prosecutor, and the case moved to its next date.
Several questions remain unanswered. No victims have been reported to have recovered their jewelry or received restitution. It is unclear whether Condé Nast has pursued any separate civil action. The status of Hollinger Diamonds as a registered business entity is unknown. And the specific bail conditions Borders received after the not-guilty plea have not been made public.
What is public: a defendant facing nine charges, a trail of bounced checks, victims who lost their savings, a worker allegedly stiffed on wages, and a courtroom finger-wag at the camera on the way out.
The people who mailed their jewelry to a Midtown address and got worthless paper in return are still waiting for accountability. They deserve more than a gesture.
