The new trend for diamonds isn't the latest pair of studded diamond wedding bands.  Instead, more than one person has been reportedly thrown in jail and taken to court for swapping real diamonds with replicas.

First, a 38-year old from Singapore was accused of trading his replicas for real diamonds at jewelry shops.  Next, he was charged with two other cheating offenses and then another for fraudulent possession.  Currently, the man Loh Han Kok has six charges against him.

Two weeks ago, he cheated a Goldheart Jewelry employee at Northpoint Shopping Center into believing he wanted to buy a diamond which he later switched with a fake one. He did the same thing at Chip Lee Goldsmith Jewelry at Yishun and Gold Heart Jewelry at Tiong Bahru Plaza in November and early December. His latest charge? He cheated Lee Hwa Jewelry and Citigems out of jewelry early this month.

The fraudulent possession charge comes because he is accused of holding a one-carat diamond near Yio Chu Kang MRT station on December 9.
Loh's bail was set at $50,000.

A similar incident occurred in Naples, Italy where a man was arrested and accused of trying to pass of a synthetic diamond as the real thing to a local jeweler.  A fraud charge was added after Naples police said he sold a fake diamond to a couple for nearly $14,000.

Mills is supposedly self-employed by his company Mills Diamond Gems, but no such business is registered in state records. 

One couple, who did their research on Mills, bought a diamond engagement ring from him after seeing his ad for "loose diamond on sale." He told them he could purchase a rough diamond from Africa and they believed him because their friends had had a great experience with him.  They were completely surprised and overwhelmed to find out he was faking with them after they had already signed a $10,000 contract with him for an uncut diamond with estimated weight of 11.30 carats. Instead, Mills told them he would get a 24.90 carat, colorless and flawless diamond.  They wrote him another check for export fees on top of the initial payment. Mills never provided documents on taxes and duties.

Mills offered to ship the uncut diamond to his own diamond cutter in NY but never provided shipping documentation. 

After paying another $5,500, the diamond the couple received turned out to be yellow, not colorless like they had been promised. Mills provided a GIA appraisal certificate which later was found to be fake. A jeweler who later examined the gemstone determined it was not a diamond, but instead a moissanite (manmade gem.)

The couple thinks Mills got greedy and kept the rough diamond, switching it with this fake gemstone. When the couple confronted Mills, he told them he believes they gave him a bad check.  The couple are not didn't have it. The store manager says other people who purchased diamonds from Mills can bring them to Provident Jewelry to get checked for free.

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