Malca-Amit Denies Claims Over 50.66-Ct Pink Diamond

(IDEX Online) – Logistics and shipping company Malca-Amit has denied any involvement over a reported case in which Geneva authorities are said to be investigating the disappearance of a pink diamond estimated to be worth around $50 million.

The firm said the case involved "nothing other than an ownership dispute, and [the company] is cooperating fully with Swiss authorities to bring the matter to a conclusion,” said Francisco Bautista, the manager of Malca-Amit in Geneva, in a company statement.

South African-Guinean diamond trader Sylla Moussa filed a complaint in September claiming a 50.66-carat pink diamond he had been keeping in storage with Malca-Amit had vanished.

Malca-Amit said: "Moussa, a national of Guinea and South Africa, tendered the diamond to Malca-Amit for storage in early 2007, declaring a value of US$15 million. The following year, Moussa is understood to have defaulted on a debt and relinquished possession and ownership of the diamond to his creditor, Moti Abbas.

"At that time, Moussa came to Malca-Amit in Geneva, and personally delivered the diamond to Abbas, in the presence of witnesses. Abbas then tendered the diamond to Malca-Amit for storage, this time under his name.

"Five years later, Moussa made the unfounded and unsubstantiated demand that the diamond be returned to him. Further, rather than making this demand of the diamond’s owner, Moussa, he turned to Malca-Amit. Needless to say, since Moussa had not been the party storing the diamond since 2008, he was unauthorized to issue any instructions concerning it.

"Based upon publicly available information, Moussa appears to have been involved in several criminal wrongdoings in South Africa in the intervening years. He is reported to have been charged with defrauding a South African bank of tens of millions of rands, multiple counts of fraud, theft and money laundering, and violating exchange control regulations. According to press reports, Moussa has also wrongfully accused several South African police officers of diamond robbery.

"Malca-Amit was founded in 1963 and is today a leading provider of secured logistics services with offices in over 20 countries. The company is proud that it has never suffered a loss due to theft by an employee, and has earned a strong reputation in the diamond and jewellery sector, and at Lloyds of London.

Police in mid-March searched Malca-Amit's Geneva premises, and placed three of its administrators under investigation, according to reports.