Conmen Switches Genuine Diamond with Fake at Macau Jewellery Fair

Written on January 11, 2008 by admin

Yesterday’s grand opening of the Macau International Jewellery and Watch Fair on the Cotai Strip was invaded by two purported buyers who allegedly swapped a genuine three-carat diamond with a replica.

The stall holder soon realised the switch and called the Judiciary Police who arrested the pair.

The incident reportedly occurred at 2pm yesterday during the Macau Jewellery & Watch Fair being held at a convention and exhibition centre on the Cotai Strip.

According to police spokesman Chan Kin Hong, two men from China’s Hunan province registered at the admission counter as buyers and then approached one of the exhibition booths set up by a Hong Kong diamond retailer.

The pair then asked the stall holder to present one three-carat and one four-carat diamonds for inspection, but soon returned them and left the booth.

After awhile, Mr Chan said the two men came back to the booth and asked to inspect only the three-carat diamond which worth about HK$470,000 (US$60,000).

Once again the pair only spent several minutes there before returning the diamond and leaving the booth. However, it was during the second inspection that the three-carat genuine diamond was swapped, police added.

The stall holder noticed the difference of the diamond within a minute after the purported buyers left the booth, and thus immediately called the security guards who then captured the two mainland suspects on the spot.

The PJ recovered the genuine diamond after a body search but also five other fakes from one of the men’s pockets.

As well, Mr Chan said one more replica was found on the venue floor which police believed was abandoned by the suspects during the pursuit.

The suspects were 38-year-old Ho and 43-year-old Lei who both arrived in Macau via the Border Gate the day before the fair opened yesterday.

The PJ believed that the mainlanders came to Macau for the international trade fair.

According to police, the replicas were of very high quality and only professionals or experts could identify the difference between them and the genuine ones.