Curious Tale of the "Spiritually Cleansed" Diamond

It's one thing when one of the world's most valuable diamonds is mysteriously pulled from auction. It's quite another when it turns out the reason is an allegation that the 13.15-carat fancy vivid pink gem had been sent from Qatar to the USA, to be "spiritually cleansed" by an online psychic. They do say that fact is stranger than fiction.  

This is how it unfolded. Last month Christie's New York announced that on 6 December it would be selling a "magnificently rare" diamond, with impressive saturation, step-cut facets and a clarity grade of potentially Internally Flawless." It carried an estimate of $25m to $35m.
Less than two weeks before the sale the gem, described as having come from a "private collector", was withdrawn, without explanation. The reason for withdrawal only became clear thanks to the vigilance of Court Watch, an online group that monitors federal court filings.

They say the criminal complaint (filed on 21 November) sat "untouched and unreported for three weeks because no one reads past the first few pages of mail fraud charges". But they read past the dreary, legal preamble to Case No 8:22-mj-2127-SPF, United States of America v. John Lee, and stumbled upon a gem of a story.
It's important, of course, to say that charges against defendant John Lee of wire fraud, mail fraud and interstate transportation of stolen goods have not been proven. The following version of events is taken directly from an affidavit sworn by a Homeland Security special agent in support of the criminal complaint.

Lee, from Davenport, Florida, advertised himself as psychic coach on the Purple Garden website, charging by the minute for advice on love and relationships. The FBI became aware that he was in correspondence with a person identified only as "Victim 1", from Doha, Qatar, who was seeking help for "negative feelings".
In June of this year he directed them to send items of their own jewelry to be "spiritually cleansed" of bad spirits. He then persuaded them to remove jewelry from their employer's safe and FedEx it to him. He said he'd return them in a face-to-face meeting in Cannes, France, but didn't show up.  

A package sent from Doha and addressed to Lee, contained a white diamond weighing around 42-carats and two large canary diamonds (weights not disclosed). A second package, sent in July, contained a canary diamond of approximately 12 carats. A third contained a necklace of about 150 diamonds and a fourth contained what is described as "an approximately 20-carat pink diamond".
The owner later provided details of at least 17 items of diamond, ruby, and sapphire  jewelry, as well as watches, with a total purchase price of over $90m.

A diamond matching the description of the stolen pink gem was offered to a jewelry business in New York in mid-August. A jeweler identified only as "Witness 1" made the link between the diamond and its rightful owner, who confirmed it was missing.
On 14 November, Christie's New York proudly announced the sale of "a superb fancy vivid pink emerald-cut diamond, one of the largest ever offered at auction at 13.15 carats".
On or around that date, agents learned that "the pink diamond was slated to be auctioned by Auction House 1 ("AH-1"), located in New York, New York, in December 2022 …
"Agents, who were in the vicinity during the showing of the pink diamond, took immediate possession of the stone as it was readily apparent the diamond was stolen property."

The affidavit says that Lee traded the pink diamond, valued at $31m, for watches and loose diamonds worth $8m.
We asked Christie's to comment.  "We can confirm that we cooperated with the authorities," a spokesperson said, "but Christie's does not comment on ongoing investigations to which we are not a party".

Have a fabulous weekend.