As part of a judicial investigation into diamond company GRIB Diamonds, three house searches took place yesterday in the Antwerp diamond district. The Antwerp public prosecutor’s office confirmed this to Knack.
Revealed in early October Knack that the US Treasury Department has placed GRIB Diamonds on its sanctions list to further restrict Russia’s revenue stream. The diamond wholesaler from Antwerp’s Schupstraat has been selling rough diamonds in Antwerp since 2014. These come from the Grib diamond pipe in northwest Russia.
After mining, the diamonds go to Moscow, and from there to GRIB Diamonds in Antwerp. GRIB then organizes so-called ‘spot market internet auctions’ or online diamond auctions.
Diamonds seized
Knack learned that the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office is conducting an investigation into GRIB Diamonds, and this is confirmed by public prosecutor’s office spokesperson Kristof Aerts: ‘A judicial investigation into an Antwerp diamond company has been ongoing since the end of June. Three searches were carried out on Wednesday on behalf of the investigating judge.’
According to the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office, GRIB Diamonds is said to be under the control of entities that appear on the European Union’s sanctions list.
“To avoid sanctions, the diamond company is said to have moved most of its stock to non-EU countries,” says Aerts. ‘During the searches in the diamond quarter, the financial section of the Federal Judicial Police (FGP) Antwerp was able to confiscate diamonds worth 1.5 million dollars. But in the meantime it seems that the Russian managers have left with no luck.’
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the facts investigated are currently qualified as ‘money laundering and infringements of a European Regulation’.
Council of State suspends Treasury decision
Previously reported Knack The Antwerp corporate court is also monitoring developments at GRIB Diamonds and appointed a restructuring expert last month. And the Council of State also recently considered GRIB Diamonds.
As a precaution, the Treasury – which is responsible for monitoring Russia sanctions at the FPS Finance – considered GRIB Diamonds as a company that would be under the control of VTB Bank, a Russian bank that is on the European sanctions lists. But GRIB Diamonds challenged that analysis before the Council of State. On October 3, the Council of State suspended the restrictive measures that the Treasury had imposed on GRIB Diamonds. She ruled that the Treasury had ‘not adequately justified’ its decisions ‘at this stage of the procedure’.
No reaction
Knack contacted GRIB Diamonds for rebuttal, via law firm Edson Legal. This represented the diamond company before the Commercial Court and the Council of State. “We no longer have instructions from GRIB Diamonds NV,” Edson Legal responds. “We are no longer attorneys for the company, and we cannot comment on the case.”
We also contacted GRIB Diamonds itself by telephone, but no one answered the line.