Shocking ! Hyderabad business forks out Rs 1.2 crore for 'diamond button'

Hyderabad police have arrested two men for allegedly duping a businessman of Rs 1.20 crore by selling him a fake diamond made of a cheap material that is used in making buttons. 

Mohd Ather Siddique (52) and Mohd Salam Khan (39), who are in the pearls and gems business, were arrested from Abids area based on a complaint filed by the businessman, city police commissioner V V Srinivas Rao said on Tuesday. 

Siddique and Khan allegedly offered him a “25-carat diamond piece”, according to the complainant Md Haji.

“Believing them, the complainant purchased the diamond paying them Rs 1.20 crore on January 18. When he got it tested, it was found to be fake,” Rao said.

The cheap material resembling the diamond was used for making buttons, he said.

As per the investigation, Siddique and Khan had suffered losses in their business and needed money. Both then hatched a plan to pass off fake diamonds as real ones to rich, unsuspecting



clients.

They purchased a fake diamond for Rs 3,500 from the Sunday market at Charminar and started looking for clients. They contacted Md Haji, with whom Salman had worked at a Jewellers.

The accused told the businessman that they were willing to sell Rs 4.5 crore worth diamond for one-third of its price . They convinced him to buy the fake diamond which he could then sell for a huge profit. 

They somehow tricked Haji into believing that it was a real diamond. Believing that the diamond was genuine, Haji borrowed money from lenders and gave Rs 1.2 crore to them. 

When he tried to resell the 'diamond', he realised that it was a Moissanite stone, which is used for making decorative buttons for dresses.

He then lodged a complaint with the Abids police following which the two accused were arrested.  

Police have recovered Rs 1.15 crore from the duo. Further probe is on, commissioner Rao said.