Diamond firm settles for €150m tax back-payment

Antwerp diamond company Omega Diamonds NV, under suspicion of concealing €3 billion from the country’s tax authorities as well as money-laundering, has agreed to transfer approximately €150 million to the Belgian authorities, reports DIB Online. The amount would be the largest ever transferred to the Special Tax Inspection, according to Belgian news reports. The Belgian government has set a target of raising €220 million this year in the fight against fraud, in a bid to boost its national budget. Omega Diamonds was one of the primary importers of rough diamonds from Angola. Because of the fiscal and compliance environment, Omega principals Arye Laniado and Sylvan Goldberg decided to move their activities out of Antwerp. In 2007, the company’s Antwerp turnover amounted to €726 million, falling to €535 million the following year. The firm then moved away from Belgium. In 2009 – a difficult year for the industry – Omega Diamonds had a turnover of just €556,000. The company declared no turnover and had debts to suppliers of €96 to €108 million. The investigation into the company’s affairs started around 2005/2006. Reports suggested that officials who investigated the case believe Omega did not declare considerable amounts of its profits and moved cash overseas. It is believed to have laundered money via Dubai, Switzerland and Israel through a complex scheme of around two dozen firms and banks around the world managed by family of the two key suspects, principals Goldberg and Ehud Laniado.