Jewelry procurement manager funds gambling habit by stealing diamonds

• An investigation identified a long-term employee at a popular jewelry company who stole diamonds
• The suspect was accused of stealing nearly 2,600 carats of diamonds worth $1.4m
• The 63-year-old man pleaded guilty to three counts of theft

A long-term employee at one of the largest jewelers in Asia recently pleaded guilty to stealing diamonds to fund a gambling addiction.

That's the case for a former procurement manager at Hong Kong's Tse Sui Luen Jewelry, who recently pleaded guilty to stealing more than $1m worth of diamonds.

More than $1m worth of diamonds was stolen

The criminal case involves a 63-year-old man, identified with the initials M.K., a report released by the South China Morning Post suggests.

The suspect was hired by Tse Sui Luen Jewelry back in 1988 and most recently held the role of procurement manager.

Despite his lengthy career, an investigation uncovered unlawful actions by the 63-year-old man, who was in charge of procuring diamonds from suppliers for inspection and examination.

The investigation uncovered that the suspect unlawfully obtained small diamonds from different suppliers and resold them.

The unlawful actions have gone undetected for years, between 2017 and 2023.

In total, the suspect allegedly stole 2,557 carats of diamonds, valued at more than HK$11m, or $1.4m.

His actions were tracked via documents accompanying the precious stones that were sent to suppliers and submitted into an internal system of the jewelry company.

Likely suffering from a gambling addiction, the former procurement manager used the ill-gained proceeds to fund his habit.

On some occasions, the 63-year-old man deposited up to HK$300,000, or $38,200 a month, into his betting account.

The suspect pleaded guilty to theft

According to the newly released report, the former procurement manager pleaded guilty to three counts of theft.

His case was heard by the High Court on Monday.

Theft is considered an indictable offense in Hong Kong. Suspects convicted on such a charge may face up to 10 years in prison.

However, the length of the prison sentence often depends on a wide range of factors, including the value of the stolen property, how serious the breach of trust was by the suspect and whether or not they admitted to their crime.

Previous criminal records are also considered.

Usually, theft cases can be resolved via a guilty plea, which can be seen as a mitigating factor and reduce a suspect's sentence.

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