The Belgian Finance Authority is selling a large consignment of precious stones seized by customs and forfeited by the courts. It involves bags of diamonds and brilliants, rough or cut, but all with a suspicious note. All together, the government is counting on proceeds of at least 702,376 euros, but already knows that the gems may fetch much more.
Last year, the government already sold a ring made of 18 carats white gold and set with a diamond of 5.14 carats. The jewel was then sold for over 90,000 euros. But the sale that is now being organized via Finshop, the official auction site of the Finance Authority, is of a completely different order. It concerns no less than 71 lots of diamonds and semi-precious stones. And all of them have a suspicious scent to them for one reason or another.
“From which cases the jewels come, we cannot and must not say. But either they were confiscated during an investigation, or they were surrendered to the State because of the high additional import costs, or they were abandoned and the buyer did not react. In that case, the judge decided that they can be sold,” says Francis Adyns of the Finance Authority.
So there is a good chance that the buyer is buying stones that come from the criminal world. Nevertheless, anyone who buys these confiscated and forfeited diamonds can rest assured. “He or she will receive the necessary permits from the Authorities so that they can be traded legally,” emphasizes Francis Adyns.
Hundreds of thousands of euros
Public sales of cars, boats or racehorses through the Finance Authority sales site rarely set an initial price and are auctions where the highest bidder wins. But in this case, there are minimum prices per lot. For example, a rough diamond sawable 1 of 8.77 carats must fetch at least 11,503 euros, a bag of two rough diamonds of 1,509 carats together must fetch 99,031 euros and for 3 bags of diamonds and 12 lots of fancy stones, the buyer must pay at least 81,858 euros.
But the showpiece are a few rough diamonds of varying quality that cannot leave the house for less than 262,646 euros. Still, there is something for everyone and there are also lots that should yield at least around 10 euros. Such as a natural untreated industrial diamond of 2.29 carats.
Some stones even carry the hallmark of the Antwerp diamond district, a guarantee of quality.
Interested parties can still bid until November 30 via Finshop.Belgium.be. There you can also consult the catalog and the conditions.
