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BFF-03
FRANCE-CRIME-JEWELLERY-ROMANIA
Romanians who scammed $1m in diamonds jailed in France
CASTRES, France, March 4, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Three Romanians were sentenced
to four years in prison on Tuesday for stealing diamonds worth $1.1 million
in an elaborate swindle of a French jeweller and his Indian business partner.
A fourth member of the gang — a Serbian who was living in Paris — was
given five years in jail by the judge in Castres in southern France, but he
is still on the run and subject to an international arrest warrant.
They were convicted of snatching three diamonds — which have never been
recovered — in August 2017.
The operation was launched four months earlier at a diamond trade fair in
Monaco, when two of the gang introduced themselves to the pair as a wealthy
Armenian couple looking to invest in precious gems.
The group met again in Milan and another time in Mazamet in southern France
in August, when the supposed buyers asked to have an independent expert
examine the stones.
After concluding the deal, the diamonds were placed in a sealed box brought
by the alleged expert and which the Indian gem trader took away with him,
awaiting a promised bank transfer of $1.1 million.
But the next day, no money arrived and the trader opened the box to
discover it empty.
In Castres, the prosecutor said the scam had been carried out using
“sleight of hand with a double-bottomed box”.
The Romanians were arrested in possession of real and fake gems, luxury
cars and watches and counterfeit cash.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0822 hrs