For the better part of a century, London has been the world’s diamond capital. There the British-dominated diamond cartel has held the famed “sights” at which it sells its uncut stones. Last year Britain re-exported £35 million ($98 million) worth of diamonds, more than half of them to the U.S. But due to currency controls, the diamond merchants had to resort to sharp practices to stay in business.
Many London merchants sold their gems not at the pegged pound rate, but for cheaper pounds in the free money market in Tangier, thereby losing Britain many dollars. But the dealers had little choice. If they had sold their gems at the official rate, Dutch and Belgian dealers would have undersold them.
Last week the London-Tangier diamond trade, which had enabled U.S. dealers to get gems for one-sixth under their London price, received a mortal blow. In London’s Clerkenwell Court, I. Hennig & Co., Ltd., one of Britain’s most respected diamond merchants, was convicted of customs evasion and violation of exchange controls. The prosecution charged that I. Hennig shipped £76,254 ($213,511) worth of rough diamonds to Tangier and attached false invoices to make it appear that the gems were consigned to a Tangier merchant. Actually, the gems were bought by U.S. merchants, among them Manhattan’s Harry Winston, Inc. (TIME, April 18) and A. G. Parser, Inc.
I. Hennig was fined £281,175 ($787,290), one of the largest fines ever handed out in a London court; two company officers were sent to jail. When Winston and Parser appeared in court to claim their part of the shipment of diamonds, worth £26,134, they were cleared of any blame, but the gems were confiscated.
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