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GIA "Certifigate" Scandal Pops Up Again

By Rob Bates, Senior Editor

Posted on September 15, 2010

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The so-called GIA “Certifigate” scandal from a few years back has once again showed up in a lawsuit.

The case, Parallel Media vs. D & M Capital, Moty Spector, and other John Does, which was summarized here, involves two gemstones, the 15.25-carat internally flawless “The Vivid Blue” and 5.5-carat blue-green “Ocean Dream.”

The lawyers for Parallel Media assert that Spector, former principal of Vivid Collection, submitted both stones in question to GIA. According to the legal papers …

Spector, in the course of running his wholesale business in precious metals and rare gemstones, has likely submitted nearly all the diamonds he purchased to GIA. This is admittedly difficult to prove since Spector was banned from submitting diamonds to GIA in 2005, after a lawsuit was filed alleging he bribed GIA’s graders to upgrade his reports. Spector continues to submit diamonds (including the Vivid Blue and Ocean Dream) on behalf of D & M through third parties.

One of the measures GIA took, in the aftermath of “Certifigate,” was to ban certain clients.  If a banned client find a way to submit through third parties that would certainly seem to undermine any ban’s effectiveness. 

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