$200M in Held Diamonds At Brussels Airport to be Released

Court supervises solution for held Antwerp goods

(IDEX Online News) – A solution was found for the $200 million worth of diamonds that were held at Zaventem airport's vaults. The vault services at the airport were managed by Brink’s Belgium S.A. which entered bankruptcy proceedings on November 12.

The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) said that the President of the Commercial Court of Brussels supervised the solution on Sunday night, however no further details are currently available.

The license to operate the vault was suspended after Brink’s transferred the profitable operation from its loss generating Cash In Transit firm that filed for bankruptcy into the hands of its Global Services unit. Over the weekend, AWDC voiced concern that it might suffer from reputational damages if the held goods are not released.

Billions of dollars worth of diamonds, gold, jewelry, banknotes and other high-value items pass through the airport on the outskirts of Brussels.

Competing courier companies, in response to the need to continue the movement of goods, started shipping diamonds via other airports.