An employee at Russian mining giant Alrosa has been caught in a shocking scheme—exchanging cheap diamonds for high-value ones and working with Armenian smugglers to sneak them out of the country.
The plot was discovered when Alrosa's security team, working with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), caught the employee red-handed trying to move 250 carats of rough diamonds worth over $24,000. The operation involved her son as an intermediary, and Armenian-Russian collaborators who swapped in lower-grade stones and funneled the real gems to Armenia.
Authorities seized about 200,000 carats of industrial diamonds, cash, and luxury jewelry. The mastermind Armenian brothers are now internationally wanted. Meanwhile, Alrosa is continuing an internal investigation to find out if more insiders were involved.
🔍 Stay tuned—this diamond drama is far from over.