A little while back, an unusual diamond robbery made headlines. What was unusual about it was the fact that the thief, Richard Mackenzie Mathews, chose to switch the real diamond with a synthetic one, and then swallowed the jewel to get rid of the evidence. Liz Dick, an employee at Precision Jewelers on Howard Avenue in Windsor, Ontario recognized the switched diamond immediately as a fake, and summoned the authorities. However, even after being in custody, with police waiting for the felon to produce the diamond, it did not turn up. Well, the wait is finally over. After an entire week, the 1.7-carat $20,000 gem has finally been passed.

One might think that the event would lower the value of the diamond. However, quite the opposite is believed to be true by Ms. Dick, who claims the cost will actually go up, now that it comes with a fascinating story such as the curse of the Black Orlov which is a 67.50 carat black diamond. Mr. Mathews is wanted on charges of theft and has warrants for him in Toronto. Hopefully this whole ordeal will have discouraged potential diamond robbers.

Apparently, Matthews is a well-known thief and had been to the jewelry store a number of times before he stole the diamond. After he was caught stealing, he was locked in the store until the police arrived. Now that the diamond has been recovered, Mathews has been moved to a more comfortable jail cell than the dry cell, one without a sink or a toilet, where he had been held for nine days.

There are been a number of colorless diamond heists in the past, some that worked and some that didn't. Only, even though this isn't a first time someone thought of ‘swallowing the goods’, it sure isn't an everyday occurrence.

Diamond Heist -Swallowed Diamond Retrieved