An 836-pound “cursed” emerald worth nearly $1 billion will be returned to Brazil after 15 years under lock and key in Los Angeles.
The 180,000-carat Bahia Emerald was smuggled out of the South American country by two residents in 2001.
A legal battle over the stone ensued in 2014 as about 10 individuals, corporations and the Brazilian government fought over ownership.
On Thursday, a federal judge ruled in favor of a US Department of Justice motion to forfeit the gem to Brazil.
The emerald was discovered in a beryl mine in 2001 and later smuggled out of the rainforest and to the US by mules — one of whom was reportedly attacked by a panther during the mission.
Once here, it reportedly survived flooding during Hurricane Katrina.
Idaho businessman Kit Morrison eventually bought the gem for $1.3 million, but reported it missing a few years later, according to reports.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators tracked it down to a Las Vegas vault, but since they could not figure out who owned the gem, they confiscated it.
The back-and-forth over the massive jewel led to rumors that it might be cursed.
Other crazy claims that have followed the stone include that it was involved in Brazilian Mafia plots and that it was part of a $197 million banking transaction with Bernie Madoff, The Post reported in 2015.
All the while, Brazilian officials argued it was a national treasure that belonged in a museum, according to the Washington Post. They called on their American counterparts to turn it over under a legal agreement between countries that allows for the exchange of evidence in criminal matters, since the gem was stolen.
Finally, US District Judge Reggie Walton said American gem speculators had stalled long enough.
“The Court has concluded that the intervenors’ positions are insufficient to prohibit the return of the emerald to Brazil,” Watson wrote in the ruling. “The Court must therefore enforce the Brazilian forfeiture judgment of the Bahia Emerald.”
“We’re very happy with the decision,” federal prosecutor Boni de Moraes Soares told the Washington Post. “We’re closer than ever to bringing the Bahia emerald back to the Brazilian people.”
The Bahia Emerald is one of the largest emeralds — if not the largest emerald — ever discovered, Brazilian authorities claimed in court documents.
Morrison, the former owner, told the outlet he doesn’t have any feelings of “defeat or loss.”
“When you are an investor and entrepreneur, you do everything you can to protect, preserve and improve the investment and opportunity,” he said. “However, you cannot control the things that are out of your control.”
If no appeal is filed, the rock will be turned over to Brazil in a formal repatriation ceremony.
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