Diamond vanishes in consignment deal gone wrong, B.C. woman claims
CBC
Fariba Pourbaba says she and her father once owned a round, three-carat diamond. It was a brilliant cut — one of the most expensive ways to shape a stone, to give it the best shine — valued at tens of thousands of dollars.
But that was four years ago, before it supposedly went missing.
Pourbaba says she and her father haven't seen the stone since they gave it on consignment to a jewelry dealer in West Vancouver in late 2019, according to a lawsuit filed this week. Court documents allege they had agreed with Masoud Javaherian that he would sell the diamond in exchange for a cut of the profit, but that they haven't seen the diamond — or a dime — since.
The allegations have not been proven and the jeweller says her story is not true.
The case has developed into a "she said/he said" dispute between Pourbaba and the jeweller, which experts say highlights the importance of a paper trail for the growing number of people looking for help selling valuable property.
"The best way out of these situations is not to get in them to begin with," said Ross McLarty, a civil litigation lawyer based in Vancouver.
Pourbaba says Javaherian, the shop owner, received the diamond in fall 2019 and had agreed it would be sold for no less than $50,000 US, or $67,000 Cdn. She claims he was supposed to give it back in a few days if he couldn't find any takers, though she doesn't specify whether that was a verbal or written agreement.
The lawsuit says her father, Marefat, couldn't get an update from Javaherian when he followed up later.
She also claims she had the diamond appraised this past June at $72,600 US — or $98,158 Cdn.
The lawsuit provides little further detail about that appraisal, including how the diamond was appraised after it went missing.
Some appraisals can be done based on photographs or other documentation, but Pourbaba's lawyer says no such photographs could be provided.
The appraiser, Mardon Jewelers, declined comment, citing client privacy.
The claim does not say whether the stone had been officially appraised before 2019.
Pourbaba, through her lawyer, declined further comment.
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