Mumbai: A diamond trader from Surat has been arrested for allegedly swapping a city trader’s 6.47-carat GIA-certified natural diamond worth Rs 1.7 crore with a lab-grown one after showing an interest in buying it and trying to get it recertified in Hong Kong under his name. Two of his associates, who were allegedly in on the con, are on the run.
As per the FIR lodged on March 30 against Trust Jewellers’ Ganshyam Tagdiya (50) and his aides Pritesh Shah and Bharat Gangani, the Surat trader, who worked in Mumbai, called up S C Modi (55), a trader at BKC’s Bharat Diamond Bourse, on Feb 10, saying he was keen on buying the diamond from him and requested its physical assessment. In his complaint, Modi said he sent his agent with the diamond to Tagdiya’s office since he was busy at that time.
No deal was struck, and the agent returned to Modi’s office, clueless that during the assessment, Tagdiya had managed to deftly swap the natural diamond with a lab-grown, CVD diamond (see box on differences).
Modi learnt that he had been swindled after an unidentified caller alerted him on Feb 26. Soon after, another caller told him that his diamond’s certification number issued by Gemological Institute of America (GIA) was being tampered with. GIA reports are considered a hallmark of quality and authenticity, and each certified diamond bears a serial number with the name and contact information of the assessee. The number is inscribed on the diamond’s girdle and can be used to track down who rightfully owns it.
Modi immediately checked the diamond in his possession and found that it was indeed a CVD one. He and his agent went to Tagdiya’s office but found that it had been shut days prior and his phone was switched off too. “The accused had vacated his rented office. Modi filed the complaint after receiving an email [from GIA’s branch] from Hong Kong asking him about the recertification process,” said a BKC police officer.
Tagdiya was nabbed soon after following a tipoff and with the help of technical assistance, said the officer. “The team is in the process of locating the person who took the diamond to Hong Kong for recertification, and are also looking for Shah and Gangani.”