A Jordanian national, visiting Hong Kong on a tourist visa, attempted to steal HK$89 million ($11 million) worth of diamonds from the office of Israel-based M & B Diamonds in Hong Kong. When he realized the police were closing in, he swallowed some of the diamonds. The 22-year-old robber also attacked the female shopkeeper.
According to several news reports, the attempted robbery happened in an office on the 16th floor of the Winway Building on Wellington Street last Thursday. The office building also hosts the Israel Diamond Institute (IDI) offices in Hong Kong.
A female shopkeeper was alone in the M & B Diamonds office when the man, who had been in the store for a while, suddenly attacked her while trying to open a safe. Once the man opened the safe, an alarm was triggered, the shop door automatically locked, and police were called. The man, meanwhile, snatched 17 diamonds and several hundred thousand dollars from the safe.
When the cops came, they found the woman unconscious. The man had on him diamonds worth $5.4 million, and the cops believed he might have swallowed 9 diamonds weighing 180 carats and valued at $6 million. Both the suspect and the shopkeeper were taken to the hospital.
