An alleged gentleman burglar finds himself in court on Thursday in Nyon (VD). This jeweler is accused of having stolen a diamond estimated at 8.5 million dollars, replacing it on his original ring with a worthless stone.
The facts allegedly took place in Dully (VD) in January 2012, when a woman commissioned this Jordanian jeweler to draw up an inventory of her jewellery. The expert would have taken the opportunity to steal this 17.48-carat purple pink diamond, replacing it on the ring with “a worthless quartz-type stone, of identical size and color”, relates the indictment. The stolen diamond was never found.
The 60-year-old, who now lives in Doha, spent 119 days in pre-trial detention in 2012 before being released. Ten years later, he still maintains his innocence.
His three lawyers filed several initial requisitions on Thursday morning, intended to “rebalance an investigation carried out exclusively against the accused”, said Me Miriam Mazou.
Expertise and counter-expertise
According to her, the defendant was suspected “wrongly from the start”, the investigation having not explored other avenues which would have made it possible to identify “the real culprit”. The plaintiff is “blinded” and relies on an “incomplete” record, she added.
The defense thus asked to add new elements to the file, such as for example the list of prestigious clients of this jeweler, supposed to show the credit of the one who notably worked for the princely family of Monaco.
The defense also criticized the expertise of the Lausanne School of Criminal Sciences (ESC), deemed “unsatisfactory”. She asked the Court to take into account a second opinion to know when the diamond had been replaced on the ring. This counter-expertise could potentially exculpate the defendant, indicated Me Mazou.
Like at Cluedo
The Public Prosecutor and the three lawyers for the injured party vehemently refuted these requisitions. Me Mathias Burnand underlined the “unwavering vocation” of the defendant who, for 10 years, has been trying to “drown the file” and never stops “delaying the deadline.”
According to the lawyer, the jeweler has been trying for all his years to be able to accuse someone else. “His game is Cluedo. He says it’s not him, it’s someone else. But his game doesn’t hold up,” he said.
Prosecutor Jean-Marie Ruede denounced the “bad faith” of the defense and its desire to “dirty” the work of the investigators, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the ESC. The magistrate mocked the counter-expertise carried out by the defence. “It’s bullshit, a series of smoky theories,” he said.
The prosecutor considered that the various maneuvers of the opposing party consisted in “doubting” the Court. Maneuvers that have lasted for 10 years, he recalled, noting that 11 appeals had been filed with the Cantonal Court and the Federal Court before this trial could start.
Until Monday
The hearing continues Thursday afternoon, then Friday and Monday. Note that the jeweler, in addition to the diamond of 8.5 million dollars of the ring, would have stolen another yellow diamond of 3.03 carats, whose value reaches “several hundred thousand francs”, according to the act of ‘charge.
This article has been published automatically. Source: ats