Value of airport diamond loot ‘€300m, not €37m’

The total value of the diamonds stolen during last February’s robbery at Brussels Airport is thought to be closer to €300m than the original quoted amount of €37m, De Morgen reports today. Morocco’s intelligence services argue that Antwerp’s  diamond sector has downplayed the value of the loot for commercial reasons. It was the Moroccan intelligence services who originally pointed their Belgian colleagues in the direction of Marc Bertoldi, a Frenchman of Moroccan origin, just days after the February 18 heist. Bertoldi is still incarcerated in Metz as the main suspect in the case. According to Moroccan intelligence, it is obvious that the 120 diamond parcels were not worth €37m but €300m. The Antwerp Diamond Center - which represents dozens of affected parties - rejects these assumptions. "I asked the victims at the time what was the value of the loot was. To me, the amount of €37m is still valid," says spokeswoman Caroline De Wolf. Belgian investigators and judges have just come back from Morocco, where for a week they were able to exchange information with their Moroccan counterparts. They also attended house searches supposed to lead to the arrest of another key suspect, who is still currently on the run. The spokesman for the Brussels public prosecutor has confirmed that the man had not yet been arrested.