CRIME
A stolen stone, which the owner claimed was a 2,100-carat diamond worth 315 million baht, was tested and found to be fake. The stone, which was stolen last week from a company in Don Muang district, was returned to its owner yesterday. |
A stolen stone, which the owner claimed was a 2,100-carat uncut diamond valued at 315 million baht, was returned yesterday _ but it was found to be a fake worth just a few hundred baht. Somchai Pornjindarak, president of the Thai Gem and Jewellery Traders Association, said the stolen item was not a diamond, but merely a cubic zirconia, or artificial diamond.
Mr Somchai and seven other jewellery specialists were asked by police to examine the stolen stone, which was returned to its owner on Wednesday.
''When I first saw the item, I immediately knew that it was not a genuine diamond,'' he said.
''It's just a cubic zirconia with a chemical composition that makes it look like a diamond. If I were to buy it, I'd only pay 100 to 200 baht for it,'' said Mr Somchai.
The association will send the item to the Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences, which will issue a document confirming what the stone is, as requested by police, he said.
The diamond-like item was yesterday returned to the recruitment company from where it was stolen last week, after police declared it might be a fake.
The item was returned to a security guard at Sapa International Service recruitment agency on Vibhavadi Rangsit road in Bangkok's Don Muang district on Wednesday afternoon by an unidentified man who arrived in a taxi.
Shop owner Rinlapas Punyajiraphat, 58, also a diamond broker, told police that a man phoned her and said he would return the stolen diamond if she and Mr Jakkaphan Pramulsuk, 71, the stone's owner, dropped charges against the thief.
Mrs Rinlapas said the man hung up when she asked about when and where he would return the diamond.
Pornlapas Pongpan, 33, the security guard who was given the stone, described the delivery man as being in his 50s.
The man, wearing black sunglasses and a cap, told him that the item in the box was to be given to the shop owner.
Mr Pornlapas left the box outside the building and ran inside because he thought it might contain a bomb.
He immediately notified Mrs Rinlapas.
Last Wednesday, Mrs Rinlapas and Mr Jakkaphan filed a complaint with Don Muang police, saying two robbers had made off with a 2,100-carat diamond from her shop.
Don Muang police issued a warrant for the arrest of Promma Chanmali, a native of Chiang Rai, whom they suspected was one of the thieves.
However, they found that Mr Promma, who surrendered to police in Chiang Rai, was not involved in the robbery.
City police chief Asawin Kwanmuang said police would take action against those who filed false statements about the value of the stone.
He said Don Muang police issued an arrest warrant for the wrong person
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