Israel Bourse Bans Traders for Synthetics-Swapping

RAPAPORT…
The Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) has kicked out two bourse
members it suspects of swapping natural diamonds with synthetics.



The traders were allegedly complicit in switching D-color,
high-clarity polished diamonds weighing 3 to 5 carats with lab-grown stones,
IDE president Yoram Dvash told Rapaport News Thursday.


The traders came to the
offices of a company in the bourse to view the goods, another source with knowledge
of the matter said. That firm discovered afterward that the alleged misconduct had occurred when it checked the three
stones in a detection machine. Footage from closed-circuit television helped them
track down the suspects, the source continued.

The accusations involved “switching stones worth hundreds of
thousands of dollars [at the expense of] another bourse member,” Israel
Vanchovsky, the IDE’s deputy director general, said in a note earlier last week
that only referenced one of the suspects. Bourse executives investigated the
case and reported the suspected fraud to the police last week, Vanchovsky said.



The management of the exchange decided Thursday to expel one
of the members for life, Dvash said. It has banned the other suspect for 37
months, ensuring that he has to go through the full admission process if he
wishes to return to the bourse. Dealers who leave and reapply for membership
within three years have a less restricted admission process.