Mainland man arrested after HK$3m diamond 'is swapped with fake' at jewellery show
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 17 September, 2014, 2:35pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 17 September, 2014, 2:35pm
Clifford Lo [email protected]
The Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Fair features nearly 3,700 exhibitions from 49 countries and regions. Photo: SCMP Pictures
A man from the mainland has been arrested on suspicion of stealing a diamond worth more than HK$3 million after he allegedly swapped it for a fake on the third day of the city’s biggest international jewellery show on Lantau.
Police were called after the 41-year-old was stopped by a staff member in the exhibition hall at the Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Fair at the AsiaWorld-Expo shortly after noon.
The mainlander visited one booth posing as a buyer and asked staff members to show him some diamonds, according to police.
“An initial investigation showed that he allegedly stole a diamond worth HK$3.1 million from the booth and replaced it with a fake,” a police officer said.
“A staff member discovered this, intercepted him and called police. The stolen diamond was recovered at the scene.”
The man is a visitor from the mainland and carries a two-way permit – a mainland travel document, according to police.
The suspect is being held at the airport police station for questioning and no charge has been laid. The New Territories South regional crime unit is investigating.
Plain-clothes police officers are understood to have been deployed to the two venues staging the seven-day jewellery show – the AsiaWorld-Expo on Lantau and the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.
This year’s event features nearly 3,700 exhibitions from 49 countries and regions. Organisers expects more than 52,000 buyers from around the world.
Last year, police received five reports of theft involving more than HK$500,000 worth of jewellery from the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show, held at the convention centre.
A tourist from Mongolia was arrested after he snatched 12 rings worth US$3,600 from one booth, while police suspected a gang of five Chinese women posing as buyers had worked together to carry out other thefts.
