CASTRES : Three Romanians have been ordered to stand trial in France on charges they made off with one million euros worth of diamonds from a French jeweller and his Indian partner, in an elaborate hoax resembling a Hollywood movie script.
The August 2017 scam was launched four months earlier at a diamond trade fair in Monaco, when two of the suspects introduced themselves to the jeweller as a wealthy Armenian couple looking to invest in precious gems. After concluding the deal, the jeweller placed the gems in a sealed box while awaiting a promised bank transfer of US$1.1 million .But the next day, when no money arrived, the jeweller opened the box to discover it empty.
The two Romanians posing as the couple were arrested a few weeks later in Nice, where police seized luxury cars and watches as well as both real and fake gems and counterfeit cash.