AfricaNews Monitoring Team Credit: Reuters
A Namibian firm has said rough and polished diamonds worth a total of $2.63 million were stolen from the factory in Okahandja in what appeared to be an inside job.
NamGem is a wholly owned subsidiary of Namibian diamond producer Namdeb, which is a 50-50 joint venture between the Namibian government and De Beers, the world's largest producer of diamonds. De Beers is 45-percent owned by global miner Anglo American.
"Employees that opened the safe on Monday morning, planning to start work, discovered a substantial amount of diamonds was missing," Kennedy Hamutenya, chairman of NamGem Diamond Manufacturing Company, told Reuters.
The diamonds went missing on Monday and included rough stones in the value of $2.1 million, polished diamonds amounting to $480,000 and partly polished stones valued at $56,000.
"There were no signs of breaking in at the factory or at the safe. The signs are pointing to an inside job," he said.
He said police and the company's security were investigating the matter and added that it was unclear what financial consequences this could have for the company, although NamGem did have insurance on the stones.
The company said work at the factory continued while the investigation was ongoing.
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