The South African national had tried to smuggle the diamond into the country and upon being detected by the Customs officer, he had tried to cut a deal with him, the Aruna Newspaper reported.
However, as the foreigner did not have the money in hand to pay the customs officer, he had left the diamond in his custody and returned to South Africa.
The South African had found the diamond in a mine in his country and had tried to smuggle it into Sri Lanka to have it valued and obtain a certificate.
The Customs officer had not entered the detection in the record books as the South African national had struck an underhand deal with him to pay him a sum of money to have the diamond released.
However, as the African national had not returned to the country, the customs officer had handed the diamond over to his friend, current owner Krishan Pieris.
However, the African had notified Madush of this incident through a broker and the plan to steal the diamond was hatched.
However, Krishan Pieris had told Police that he had found the diamond in a pile of sand while working for a billionaire businessman in Saudi Arabia and had sent it to Sri Lanka hidden in his luggage.
