Three Arrested over $88m "Diamond Scam"

(IDEX Online) - Three men have appeared in court in India, charged with an $88m money laundering scam.

They're accused of importing synthetic Moissanite from Hong Kong to the Surat Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and exporting it as finished jewelry, claiming the stones were mined diamonds.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DIR) claims three men arrested on 9 December had imported synthetic Moissanite in the guise of natural cut-and-polished diamonds worth $134m and that they made outward remittances of $88m, according to local media reports.

DIR officials recovered cut and polished diamonds valued at $176,000 that were being illegally transported outside the SEZ.

Generic pic shows Moissanite.