Police analysed thousands of hours of CCTV footage and questioned over 100 people to investigate the daring theft of a $20 million diamond from the vault of a Dubai based company.
Police were alerted about a robbery of a rare stone 9.33 carat after an unknown person broke through three security gates to get to the company’s vault on May 25. “The security system of the vault requires a group of employees to open the last gate simultaneously. Despite the precautionary measures, the suspect managed to steal the diamond.
In a major operation, Dubai Police recovered the diamond from Sri Lanka after it was smuggled out of the UAE in a shoe box by sea, an official said.
The suspect, a guard working with the money transfer company, was arrested in the UAE. After stealing the diamond, he gave it to a relative who smuggled the precious stone out of the UAE by hiding it in a sports shoe box, the police said.
The Asian suspect, who worked for the company. was arrested in a neighbouring emirate, had managed to break through three security gates to the vault to steal the diamond.
Fancy blue diamonds out performed other major color categories in price terms during the first quarter, the Fancy Color Research Foundation said.
Prices for fancy blues jumped 5% year on year for the three months ending March 31, according to the FCRF, which released its quarterly Fancy Color Diamond Index on Monday.
By contrast, prices of fancy pink diamonds declined 1.7%, while the index for yellows slipped 0.6%, the organization said. The overall index for fancy color diamonds edged up 0.1%.
Vivid blues and vivid pinks weighing 2 carats showed the best performance in their respective color categories during the quarter.
The Fancy Color Diamond Index tracks prices of fancy yellow, pink and blue diamonds in Hong Kong, New York and Tel Aviv.
Source: diamonds.net
The Farnese Blue diamond a 6.16 carat pear shaped, GIA graded as Fancy dark gray blue.
Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels in Geneva will auction the diamond on May 15.
The history of the diamond : Recovered in Indian Golconda region, the diamond was first given to Elisabeth Farnese, Queen of Spain in 1714.
It then passed to her son Philip, Duke of Parma, and through various Italian nobles ending with the Habsburg family.
