INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Moscow investigators on Monday said they ?harged an employee of the state-run diamond producer Alrosa, her son and two others in connection
with a diamond theft scheme at the company.Valentina Matyushenkova, an Alrosa employee, is accused of swapping high-value diamonds with
stolen diamonds were smuggled to Armenia.Matyushenkova was caught in the act while attempting to steal a batch of diamonds valued at more
than 1.7 million rubles ($21,700), investigators said
Her son, Alexei Matyushenkov, is accused of acting as a middleman.Two other suspects, Armen Petrosyan and Arman Sahakyan, allegedly
transported the stolen stones across the border to Armenia.A video published by the Kommersant business newspaper showed Matyushenkova
confessing to her role in the scheme during questioning
200,000 carats of low-grade industrial diamonds, which investigators say were used to replace the high-quality raw stones.All four suspects
have been placed in pre-trial detention
If convicted, they face up to 10 years in prison on theft charges and up to seven years for the illicit trafficking of precious stones and
