“Married to the Mob: The diamond boer and the honeytrap” – Louis Lieberman - Part 5

https://mg.co.za/article/2015-04-16-married-to-the-mob-the-diamond-boer-and-the-honeytrap/
16 Apr 2015


Back in South Africa, Messicati Vitale was introduced to Liebenberg by Pina, who referred to him as “our cousin, Tony”.

“He stayed with Pina and me for a whole month,” Liebenberg said. “He wasn’t fluent in English but could understand. He brought lots of expensive gifts from Italy to the family. I only got to know what Pina told me about him: that he was her cousin and had lots of money. I only discovered later, in the press, that he had been jailed for Mafia.”

It was during this month that Messicati Vitale returned to Zimbabwe, this time to Marange. He came back with one million carats of illegal diamonds, bought with cash.

Marange’s diamond prices vary significantly according to the gems’ quality, colour and purity. The minimum set price is $70 a carat, though it is possible to access the highest quality stones, costing up to $450 a carat, “if buyers specifically request it and get it direct from mines”, said a source familiar with the trade.

When Messicati Vitale left Zimbabwe in January 2011, he left with between $70-million to $450-million worth of illegal diamonds.

Where these diamonds are now is speculation, but many of them likely to have made it on to the fingers and around the necks of rich Europeans, who are unaware that their expensive purchase is tainted with blood and Mafia money.