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Saturday, 18 June 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
SCMP: A Sri Lankan precious gems dealer is staring at financial ruin after his HK$ 6 million haul of uninsured precious sapphires and rubies was snatched in a daylight robbery in Tsim Sha Tsui on Sunday.
As the police investigate the theft, trader Mohamed Azan Mohideen Abdul Cader, 44, pleaded for the safe return of the gems and urged local jewellery traders to watch out for anyone trying to sell the stolen goods.
“It will cripple our business completely. We have lost almost everything,” said Abdul Cader, who hails from the Sri Lankan town of Beruwala, a major hub for the gem trade.
Some 750 stones were stolen but among them were several high-value items, including an 8.05 carat ruby worth $ 200,000, a 32.91 carat padparadscha pink sapphire stone valued at $ 60,000 and a 14.36 carat purple pink sapphire worth the same amount.
Investigators are looking for two people in connection with the theft. They are both males. One is aged between 40 and 50 and is 1.7m in height and of fat build. Another is about 30-40, 1.8m tall and of slim build. No arrests have been made.
The victim was returning from a gem trade show in Las Vegas. He arrived last Sunday morning from Los Angeles. He had been scheduled to stay in the city for 14 hours before flying on to Colombo in Sri Lanka. The theft forced him to stay on in Hong Kong.
Before meeting a friend, he stopped off at the iSquare shopping mall in Tsim Sha Tsui where the theft took place late on Sunday morning.
Abdul Cader said the Police thought he was followed into the mall. Officers are exploring whether the crime was gang-related and a professional attempt at stealing the contents of the bag.
The costliest rubies and sapphires were on loan from suppliers Abdul Cader met at a jewellery fair in Las Vegas, with the rest paid out of his own pocket. Traditionally within the industry, gems are loaned to dealers, who then try to sell them before paying the supplier. Without insurance, Abdul Cader faces the prospect of huge financial losses.
“I don’t have a big company. I invest in stones. My inventory is my business,” he said. “Insurance can be really costly as well. On a day-to-day basis it can be a costly expense,” he said with regret.
He added: “Right now, I am really upset that I’ve lost such a big amount of my stock. I’m still hopeful the Police will be able to identify and locate the bag. But the thing is I am growing weary of it and it’s already been four days.
A Hong Kong Police Spokeswoman said: “Police received a report from a 44-year-old man on 12 June that he lost a briefcase containing about 750 pieces of gemstones worth about HK$ 5.8 million in a shopping mall on Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. The case has been classified as ‘theft’ and is being investigated ... No arrests have been made so far.”
