The London Diamond Bourse has published a document on the public area of its website to try and prevent the public failing foul of “boiler room” scams purporting to sell highly lucrative investment diamonds, reports IDEX Online.

The consumer advice has been developed by London Diamond Bourse and the Insolvency Service with former chief executive officer of the British Jewellers Association, Simon Rainer, consulting for the project. The Insolvency Service is an executive government agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills that provides services to those affected by financial distress or failure.

Chris Mayhew, company investigations supervisor for the Insolvency Service explains: “We work closely with a number of partners to stop unscrupulous companies ripping off vulnerable investors and welcome this initiative by the London Diamond Bourse to prevent people from being mis-sold diamonds at grossly inflated prices for investment.”

This consumer advice seeks to outline the working practices of companies that miss sell diamond investments and highlight that London Diamond Bourse members are subject to regulation and as such consumers are covered by redress through arbitration services.

Victoria McKay, chief operating officer of the London Diamond Bourse, adds: “With promises of high returns, talk of Swiss bank vaults and carefully worded exit strategies; investors have been duped into thinking they have made a sound financial decision and later find not only do they have a problem accessing the diamonds they have purchased, but also that the value of the stones is significantly less than the original purchase price with VAT issues in bringing the stones back to the UK.

“The London