Lots of people would be ecstatic at the prospect of getting their hands on a jewel worth up to nearly $1 billion, but maybe not if that jewel happens to be the Bahia Emerald.
Is the Bahia Emerald real?
Los Angeles lawyer John Nadolenco initially thought he was being scammed when he received a letter from a sender from Brazil, enlisting his help in retrieving a 836-pound emerald which had allegedly been stolen.
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It sounds like the start of an Indiana Jones movie, and Nadolenco recalled thinking: "I'm not falling for this one. I'm smarter than this."
Speaking to The State, the lawyer remembered how he threw the letter in the trash, but his boss then asked him to look into the case as a favor.
Nadolenco still wasn't convinced, but when he reached out to a colleague in his company's Brazil office he learned that the Bahia Emerald was real, and was being held in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's custody.
The Brazilian government really did want Nadolenco's help in retrieving the jewel, because there were disputes over its ownership.
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What is the Bahia Emerald?
'Emerald' as a singular term is actually a bit misleading when it comes to the Bahia jewel, because in fact the name refers to not one, not two, but nine huge crystals which are all held together in a chunk of black rock.
The rock measures 30 inches wide and 33 inches high, and each individual crystal is said to be as thick as a Coca-Cola bottle. One is even believed to be the largest single emerald ever found.
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Scott Miller, a now-retired Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department detective who seized the emerald from a Las Vegas warehouse in 2008, said it resembled a 'lava rock' with 'huge spires of emerald coming out of it'.
The object is one-of-a-kind, and that combined with the varying price of emeralds mean that the value of the Bahia jewel ranges from as low as around $2,000, to a staggering $925 million.
Discovered in Brazil's Bahia region, the emerald came from a mine in the Carnaíba mountain range in 2001. Four years later, the emerald was smuggled in to the US.
Why was there dispute over the emerald?
The fight over the ownership of the Bahia Emerald began after building contractor Anthony Thomas and mining consultant Kenneth Conetto flew to Brazil to purchase emeralds in September 2001, in the hope of using them as collateral for their startup company.
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Thomas wired $60,000 to Elson Alves Ribeiro, one of the men who took possession of the emerald after it was pulled from the mine, and claimed the money was to purchase the jewel.
However, court documents claim the money was used to cover the cost of cutting and polishing the collection of emeralds which had been gathered for the loan.
When the Bahia Emerald was sent to California, Thomas claimed it mysteriously disappeared.
It ended up in the possession of Conetto, who stored the emerald in a storage facility in New Orleans. However, when no progress was made on using the emerald for collateral, the team decided to sell it.
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Over the following years, the emerald was held in the possession of a number of different players before it was taken into the custody of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
A member of the US Department of Customs and Border Protection then contacted the Brazilian government to report the emerald, after which the Brazilian government reached out to Nadolenco for help with repatriating the stone to Brazil through federal court.
Finally, US District Judge Reggie B. Walton declared that American 'interventors' had no right to the stone, and that Brazil was the true owner.
Why do people believe the Bahia Emerald is cursed?
Thomas has claimed that after he became the owner of the emerald, his house burned to the ground. The State has confirmed this part of the story is true, but another claim - that the man's deed of ownership of the emerald burned along with the house - is less certain.
Later, Conetto claimed he almost lost the gem when Hurricane Katrina caused floods which submerged the storage facility where he was keeping it.
As the stone was passed around in later years, it was said to have wreaked havoc on the lives of those who became linked with it.
Nadolenco also admitted he was cautious about the stone, saying: "I'd love to see it in person, but there's a small part of me that may throw salt over my left shoulder or keep my fingers crossed behind my back, just in case."
However, detective Miller has expressed belief that 'greed' was the only 'curse' ever linked to the stone.
If no appeal is filed against Brazil's ownership of the stone, Brazilian officials plan to display it in a museum.
Topics: Los Angeles, Money
Emily Brown