Jewellery showcase hit by a sixth theft

A thief eluded heavy security and stole a 4.8-carat diamond worth about HK$800,000 by swapping it with a fake in the sixth theft so far at this year's Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Fair.

Police said CCTV cameras yesterday captured a thin, short-haired Chinese-looking man aged between 30 and 40 and 1.7 metres tall who appeared to swap the real diamond with a fake after asking to see the merchandise. He was wearing a blue checked shirt and jeans.

It was the first such incident to hit the Convention and Exhibition Centre at its Wan Chai venue since the fair began on Monday.

The earlier thefts happened at the fair's other location, AsiaWorld-Expo in Lantau, and involved jewels worth a total of HK$6.9 million. At least five people have been arrested so far in those cases, all from Hunan province.

"The employee noticed a fake diamond while doing a stock take at about 12.30pm," a police officer said. "After checking, she found the 4.8-carat diamond had gone missing."

Officers pored over CCTV footage to identify a suspect.

"CCTV footage showed the man visited the booth shortly before 11am," the officer said. "He asked to see some diamonds but left soon afterwards. We believe he switched one of the diamonds with a fake one."