The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) has distributed to member bourses a list of GIA certificates used with the aim of fraudulently selling CVD, lab-grown, diamonds.
WFDB President Ernie Blom has distributed to the Presidents of the organization's 30 affiliated member bourses the GIA certificates numbers and details used to dishonestly sell CVD diamonds by an Indian company who parent firm is based in China.
Leading online global wholesale trading platform, Alibaba, offered CVD lab grown (synthetic) diamonds inscribed with the numbers of genuine GIA graded natural diamond reports. The seller on Alibaba, a New Delhi (India) based company called International Trading Corporation (ITC), which only deals in synthetic and simulated gems, claims to be able to supply 10,000 carats of CVD diamonds per week and, on its website, that it has a “stock of more than 25,000 certified diamonds.”
The Diamond Intelligence Briefs published a list of CVD synthetic diamonds, sized between 0.5 carat and 1,00 carat, "which presumably have been inscribed with real GIA diamond report numbers and are being traded with genuine GIA natural diamond certificates (or, possibly, also with sophisticated fake certificates carrying the real number)."
The WFDB has uploaded the list to its website and urges member bourses to do likewise. Diamantaires having such stone or certificate in inventory may mostly likely possess “the real diamond” and may not need to worry, but duplicate stones with the same inscription may nevertheless be in the market.
The WFDB urges anyone who has acquired a stone with any of these numbers (either with or without a certificate) to contact GIA Senior Vice President Tom Moses directly (email: tmoses@gia.edu). The WFDB was informed that there is no reason to resubmit the stone itself – unless the GIA has reasons to make such request.
WFDB President Ernie Blom reiterates the organization’s long-standing commitment to zero-tolerance to any undisclosed or falsely identified synthetic diamond trading, and will discuss additional measures to fight this major threat to the industry at the forthcoming meeting of the Presidents of all the affiliated member diamond bourses. Mr. Blom also expresses deep appreciation to the Diamond Intelligence Briefs and to the trade press in general for their proactive investigative reporting exposing fraudulent and criminal practices which endanger the confidence of consumers in our industry.
Click here to read the letter from WFDB President Ernie Blom.
Click here to see the list of compromised GIA certificates.
