RAPAPORT. Belgium’s polished-diamond exports more than quadrupled year on year to $566 million in April, reflecting the comparison with the peak of the 2020 coronavirus crisis, according to data the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) released this week. Shipments were down versus March,.
Upbeat US and China retail sales driving positive sentiment. Trading limited due to supply scarcity and India Covid-19 travel restrictions. Polished shortages stimulating rough buying at firm prices. Strong cash buyers making for good market liquidity, but India experiencing some.
RAPAPORT. Sotheby’s will offer a fancy-vivid-yellow diamond ring at its New York sale next month, estimating the piece could fetch up to $3 million.The cut-cornered square step-cut, 73.11-carat, VS2-clarity jewel by Mayfair designer Glenn Spiro, called The Sienna Star, is one of the largest.
Fugitive Jeweler Mehul Choksi Arrested in Caribbean RAPAPORT. Jeweler Mehul Choksi will likely be repatriated to India following his capture in Dominica, an island nation in the Caribbean, Reuters reported.
Choksi’s arrest comes two years after his nephew, Nirav Modi, was apprehended by the Metropolitan Police in the UK on behalf of the Indian authorities.
The two fugitives, along with others, are alleged to have defrauded India’s Punjab National Bank of $2 billion the largest such case in the country’s history.
The Dominican government and law-enforcement agencies are cooperating, said Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, where Choksi had been living and from where he was reported missing. Antigua is in talks with the Indian government for Choksi’s repatriation, Browne added, according to Reuters partner ANI.
RAPAPORT. Lucapa Diamond Company has agreed to acquire the Merlin diamond project in Australia for AUD 8.5 million ($6.6 million), planning to fund the deal with private and public sales of its shares.The acquisition agreement with Merlin Operations complements Lucapa’s existing portfolio,.