In the USA, the government has auctioned over 600 diamonds with a crime history. It’s not as easy as it used to be to buy what the government sells, especially during economic downtime’s when the treasury looks to fund its extravagant stimulus packages. Which is why when it comes to the government selling tangible goods, the news is good since the value is easier to judge.
Lat month, 605 loose diamonds were auctioned off under the stunning crystal chandeliers of the Grand Ballroom in the New Yorker Hotel. The diamonds have a checkered history, some have always been loose, whilst others spent time set as diamond hoop earrings and diamond necklaces.
The 605 diamonds that were divided into more than 100 lots, had once belonged to Roman and Eduard Nektalov, a father-and-son business which bought and sold diamonds in Manhattan. In 2002 they were were targets of the infamous Operation Meltdown, an FBI investigation into the laundering of drug money. In 2003, the two men, members of a prominent family of Bukharian residents, were arrested after trading the diamonds, unbnkown to them to a undercover FBI agent. It’s beleived the deal would have been worth over $500,000 cash had it been legitimate.
By the end of the day, the auction brought in nearly $750,000.