Police Recover $2.2m of Namdia's Stolen Diamonds
March 12, 25
(IDEX Online) - Diamonds worth $2.2m have been recovered following an armed raid on Namibia's state-run marketing company in January, in which a staff member was killed.
Namdia (Namib Desert Diamonds) said in a statement that it was hopeful that more of the remaining diamonds, valued at $14.9m, would still be recovered.
Raiders struck at Namdia's headquarters in Windhoek as it prepared to sell its largest ever consignment of rough diamonds.
Staff were tied up and security supervisor Francis "Gosh" Eiseb, aged 57, died of gunshot wounds during the heist.
Namdia said police had arrested two suspects - one of them a protection officer at the company - who are due to appear in court on 23 May.
It also said it had made significant improvements to its security, and staff who had been working remotely had now returned to their offices.
CEO Alisa Amupolo and two other senior figures remain suspended pending an inquiry.
Namdia said: "At this stage, there is no reason to believe that any staff members, apart from the protection officer already arrested, were involved in the robbery."