Former Rio Governor Possessed a Rare Diamond, According to Testimony

02/02/2017 - 14h49

The fortune attributed to former Rio Governor Sérgio Cabral (PMDB-RJ) included 29 diamonds valued at about US$ 2,1 million.

Among the stones acquired by the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party leader, the largest weighs 5 carats, or about one gram.

The most valuable, however, is one that weighs 4,05 carats, with a very high level of purity (third highest on the VVS1 scale). In the shape of a drop, it is evaluated at US$ 168,000.

Under condition of anonymity, a gemologist revealed that even in the high value market, this is a stone with a very rare level of purity.

The list of diamonds was delivered by informants Renato and Marcelo Hasson Chebar to the Federal Public Prosecutor under a plea-bargain agreement.

The stones were listed under both of their names, but the real owner was Cabral, according to testimony given to the authorities. The stones make up a part of financial resources that have already been recovered by the Prosecutor.

The diamonds were acquired last year and were being kept in a safe in the free zone of the Geneva (Switzerland) airport.

Another 17 stones were kept in another safe in the city. In this second location, they were kept together with four & one-half kilos of gold that had been acquired in 2011.

All of this money had been circulating in accounts in at least nine different countries abroad since 2002, according to testimony from collaborators. Part of the resources, however, were kept hidden in Brazil, in a commercial office in Ipanema in Rio's southern zone.

According to testimony from both informants, a total of R$3 million (US$ 935,000) was kept hidden there.

The Chebar defense counsel declared that he cannot comment on the terms of the plea bargain citing questions of confidentiality. Cabral denies having received bribes.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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