SEND IT BACK! El País Reports – “the Bahia Emerald” gets to come home… California Judge says, You can have it!
A U.S. judge has authorized the repatriation of the 837 lb. gem, valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.
Here is the story from El País Magazine
El País Magazine
Naiara Galarraga Gortázar
São Paulo
Dec. 09, 2024
EP – “One of the largest emeralds* to be excavated from a mine in Brazil’s Bahia region” at the start of this century, the ‘Bahia Emerald,’ has been under L.A. police protection for the past 10 years. In the photos you can see the crystals, embedded in a blackish stone. They are bright green and you can guess at their hexagonal shape.
*[Okay – this is NOT one solid emerald. It’s a cluster! in matrix – Lots of matrix. (see image below) – gr]
It’s Weight, It’s Worth?
EP – The Bahia Emerald is a rare and valuable piece that can be summed up in figures: 380 kilos (837 pounds), 180,000 carats.**
**[Our point once again. It’s not entirely emerald. This is not something you can simply weigh and say “the emerald weighs 180,000 carats.” – gr]
EP – And it is so exotic that estimates of its worth range from between $370 million and $920 million. The giant gem was taken out of Brazil under false pretenses and eventually confiscated in Las Vegas. It remains in safekeeping while the U.S. justice system resolves the long litigation involving the Brazilian State, individuals and U.S. companies, all of whom claim ownership. At the end of November, a federal judge ruled in favor of Brazil and authorized the gem to be repatriated, but there is room for appeal.
EP – Since its discovery in 2001, the life of the Bahia Emerald has been nothing if not eventful. Excavated from a mine in the Carnaíba mountain range, 400 kilometers (248 miles) inland from Salvador, where five other giant emeralds have been discovered this century, it has earned a reputation for being cursed.
Okay – Maybe more than $100
EP – It passed through numerous hands, sometimes in shady transactions, until two Brazilians took it out of the country in 2005. They got it out by claiming it was asphalt stone and natural bitumen. Declared value? $100. Next stop, the United States. That same year the emerald survived Hurricane Katrina, which flooded the warehouse where it was stored.
The Twisted Story
EP – That year it was sold to the highest bidder on eBay for $19 million, according to Wired magazine. But the transaction never went through. Over the years, the plot thickened: sales at different prices, a fake kidnapping, the use of the emerald as collateral in a diamond sale… In 2008, thanks to a tip-off, the police confiscated the Bahia Emerald in an operation in Las Vegas, complete with special forces and a helicopter. Since then, it has been at the center of a judicial battle.
Cut to the Courts in California (to read the full story, tap the link below)
EP – On November 21, U.S. federal judge Reggie Walton ruled in favor of the Brazilian state, which has also been immersed in a legal battle to recover what it considers a national treasure. Lawyers for the Brazilian Public Prosecutor’s Office adopted a novel strategy, according to Reuters: they called on their U.S. colleagues to comply with the bilateral agreement committing them to enforce Brazilian rulings. The Brazilian magistrate who convicted those who removed the stone from Brazil in 2017 also demanded that it be repatriated. Now Judge Walton has ruled that this be complied with.
Tap here to read the full story in El País, and the legend of the Bahia Emerald!
This story also made the US Sun Magazine… Tap Here.
