An 836-pound “cursed” emerald worth nearly $1 billion will be returned to Brazil after being under lock and key in Los Angeles for 15 years.
The 180,000-carat Bahia Emerald was smuggled out of the South American country by two residents in 2001.
A legal battle over the stone began in 2014 as about 10 individuals, corporations, and the Brazilian government fought over ownership.
On Thursday, a federal judge ruled in favor The US Justice Department proposed to confiscate the gem to Brazil.
The emerald was discovered in a beryl mine in 2001 and was later smuggled out of the rainforest and into the US by mules – one of which was Allegedly attacked by a panther During the mission.
Once here, it reportedly survived flooding during Hurricane Katrina.
Idaho businessman Kit Morrison eventually purchased the gem for $1.3 million, but reported it missing a few years later, According to reports.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s investigators located it in a Las Vegas safe, but since they could not find out who owned the gem, they confiscated it.
The back-and-forth over the huge gem led to rumors that it might be cursed.
Other crazy claims made after the stone include that it was involved in Brazilian Mafia conspiracies and that it was part of a $197 million banking transaction with Bernie Madoff, The Post reported in 2015.
The whole time, Brazilian officials argued that it was a national treasure that belonged in a museum. Washington PostHe called on his US counterparts to hand it over under a legal agreement between the countries that allows the exchange of evidence in criminal cases, because the gem was stolen.
In the end, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said American gem speculators had waited too long.
“The Court concludes that the interveners’ position is insufficient to bar the return of the emeralds to Brazil,” Watson wrote in the ruling. “The Court must therefore enforce the decision on the Brazilian seizure of the Bahia Emerald.”
“We are very pleased with the verdict,” federal prosecutor Bonnie de Moraes Soares told the Washington Post. “We are closer than ever to bringing the Bahia Emerald back to Brazilians.”
Brazilian authorities have claimed in court documents that the Bahia Emerald is one of the largest emeralds ever discovered – if not the largest.
Former owner Morrison told the outlet that he had no feelings of “defeat or loss.”
“When you’re an investor and entrepreneur, you do everything you can to protect, preserve and improve investment and opportunity,” he said. “However, you cannot control things that are out of your control.”
If no appeal is filed, the rock will be handed over to Brazil in a formal repatriation ceremony.
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