Lazare Kaplan International, the New York diamond manufacturer behind the Lazare Diamond brand, became embroiled in one of the jewelry industry's most extraordinary corporate disputes after diamonds and associated funds allegedly disappeared. On May 17, 2010, LKI sued Lloyd's of London syndicates and European insurers for $640 million, claiming that the carriers had breached two New York property policies covering the missing stones. The following year, after defaulting on a $45 million loan from Belgium's KBC Bank, LKI escalated the conflict into a $1.5 billion civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act complaint in the United States. The company alleged that KBC and others had participated in a conspiracy involving the theft of diamonds and money. KBC's lawyers countered that LKI chairman Maurice Tempelsman and diamond dealer Erez Daleyot—described in the litigation as having once controlled roughly one-third of the global diamond trade—were themselves implicated in the alleged scheme. These claims were contested allegations, not criminal convictions or judicial findings that the named individuals had stolen diamonds. In 2019, a U.S. court dismissed LKI's RICO case, a major victory for KBC, while related litigation continued in Belgium and remained unresolved in proceedings before the Belgian Court of Cassation. The controversy coincided with LKI's suspension from trading on the American Stock Exchange in September 2009 and its failure to file regular quarterly and annual reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after early 2009, turning a storied diamond-cutting company into a symbol of the opacity and financial fragility hidden behind luxury jewelry's polished surface.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 2010s
The Missing-Diamond War: Lazare Kaplan's $1.5 Billion RICO Battle with KBC Bank
Lazare Kaplan International (LKI) / 2010s
Lazare Kaplan International, the New York diamond manufacturer behind the Lazare Diamond brand, became embroiled in one of the jewelry industry's most extraordinary corporate disputes after diamonds and associated funds allegedly disappeared. On May 17, 2010, LKI sued Lloyd's of London syndicates and European insurers for $640 million, claiming that the carriers had breached two New York property policies covering the missing stones. The following year, after defaulting on a $45 million loan from Belgium's KBC Bank, LKI escalated the conflict into a $1.5 billion civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act complaint in the United States. The company alleged that KBC and others had participated in a conspiracy involving the theft of diamonds and money. KBC's lawyers countered that LKI chairman Maurice Tempelsman and diamond dealer Erez Daleyot—described in the litigation as having once controlled roughly one-third of the global diamond trade—were themselves implicated in the alleged scheme. These claims were contested allegations, not criminal convictions or judicial findings that the named individuals had stolen diamonds. In 2019, a U.S. court dismissed LKI's RICO case, a major victory for KBC, while related litigation continued in Belgium and remained unresolved in proceedings before the Belgian Court of Cassation. The controversy coincided with LKI's suspension from trading on the American Stock Exchange in September 2009 and its failure to file regular quarterly and annual reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after early 2009, turning a storied diamond-cutting company into a symbol of the opacity and financial fragility hidden behind luxury jewelry's polished surface.
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