Leviev Employee Reportedly Commits Suicide

RAPAPORT… A bookkeeper at Lev Leviev’s diamond business jumped to her
death from the company’s office at the Israel Diamond Exchange on Tuesday,
according to local media.

The 42-year-old woman had been questioned by police in an
investigation into an alleged crime ring at LLD Diamonds, Globes reported.
She was one of nine employees of the firm arrested since the probe
began, the report said.

“We received with shock and deep sadness the announcement of
this difficult loss of a company employee,” LLD said in a statement reported by
Globes. “We will take every possible action in our power to assist in
the investigation of her death, and in order to put an end to this difficult
situation, in which the rights of the suspects are being trampled on, causing
irreversible damage, out of a desire to make media headlines.”

The operation first came to light when authorities
apprehended a diamond smuggler at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport
earlier this year. After questioning him, as well as a second suspect, police
believed they had uncovered a vast diamond-smuggling operation at the company.
They subsequently detained nine people including Leviev’s son and brother, and
have released some of them, Globes said.

Israeli police declined to comment on details of the
probe, but said there were “material inaccuracies” in an “announcement
published on behalf of the company involved in the police investigation.”

“The Israel Police constantly acts with the required sensitivity,
while strictly observing the dignity and rights of suspects and those under
interrogation, alongside taking various investigative actions intended to bring
perpetrators to justice,” a police spokesperson told Rapaport News
Tuesday.

“We regret the tragic results of the event that took place
at the Ramat Gan diamond exchange,” the spokesperson added.

Israeli authorities want to question Lev Leviev about the
smuggling operation as well, but he is currently outside the country, according
to reports.


Image: The Israel Diamond Exchange. (Rapaport News)