January 14, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 13, 1426

LONDON, Jan 13: Two of the world’s leading jewellery firms were conned into handing over diamonds worth an estimated 500,000 pounds (885,000 dollars) in total for bogus fashion shoots in London, police said on Friday.

Both De Beers and Cartier were duped into delivering the jewellery, supposedly for models on trendy ‘urban’ photo-shoots, but masked robbers ambushed their couriers en route, the Metropolitan Police revealed.

Scotland Yard detectives are working to identify the person who managed to convince both firms they were setting up a legitimate photo-shoot and track down the robbers.

In the first robbery, on Wednesday, a private taxi carrying diamond De Beers earrings, necklace and a ring — each in maroon boxes with the company’s logo — was intercepted by two men.

The second, on Thursday, saw a lone female courier have a necklace and matching earrings — both in red Cartier boxes — stolen by two men who reached inside her private taxi.

The raids come five years after an audacious attempt to steal one of the world’s most famous diamonds — the priceless 203-carat De Beers Millennium Star — and other jewels worth more than 200 million pounds using an earth mover.

Had the robbers been successful in snatching the white, pear-shaped and flawless gem, on show at the Millennium Dome in southeast London, it would have been the world’s biggest diamond heist. —AFP