A man who found a bag of diamonds worth $500,000 and decided to keep them rather than handing them in was sentenced to nine months in prison Monday by the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court.
The man, a native of Azerbaijan, found the diamonds at a money changer's business.
In the ruling, Judge Shaul Avinur wrote that "naturally, a case of a person happening to find property worth over $500,000 is very unusual, and therefore it is difficult to discuss the policy of punishment [for such crimes.]"
Ali Amadov, 24, arrived in Israel with his parents last year so his father could undergo cancer treatment. While in Israel, Amadov and his parents rented an apartment in Bat Yam. A year ago, while the family were at Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Amadov needed to change money and entered a money changing establishment in a shopping center next door to the hospital.
At the same time, a diamond courier arrived, carrying diamonds worth some $540,000 that were wrapped in plastic and inside a brown paper envelope.
When the courier left the money changer, he forgot the envelope on the counter. Amadov noticed the envelope but at first left it on the counter and left the business. A short while later, he returned, and while the business owner was out of the room, Amadov began eyeing the envelope. At one point, he even opened it and inspected the contents. He then took the envelope, rolled it up, and left.
Thanks to security camera footage, it took police less than a day to track down Amadov and arrest him. Amadov was found to be in possession of the diamonds the courier had been carrying, although stones worth some $140,000 had fallen out of the package.
During his trial, Amadov denied the allegations, even though he had been filmed taking the envelope from the money changer's.
Amadov's mother wrote to the Azeri foreign minister and asked that her son be treated fairly and be allowed to return to his native country soon. She said that she could not afford to continue supporting her son financially while he remained under detention in Israel and that Amadov had been prevented from attending the funeral of his father, who had succumbed to his illness.
The prosecution, however, wanted Amadov sentenced to two to three years, as well as fined.
According to Judge Avinur, all of Amidov's actions – which were caught by the business' security cameras – indicated criminal intent.
"This is a clear case of a 'theft of opportunity,' since given the circumstance, the defendant could very easily have located the owner of the diamonds if he had wanted to," Avinur wrote.
"The defendant himself admitted, if halfheartedly, to 'dropping' some of the diamonds and to taking steps to ascertain their worth," Avinur wrote.
Eventually, Avinur sentenced Amadov to nine months in prison but did not fine him or order him to pay compensation.
"The diamonds that were found were returned to their owner, and as for the rest [which Amidov lost], the owner was compensated by the insurance company, which has already sued the defendant for the money. Secondly, this is a citizen of a foreign country, who has been detained in Israel for nearly a year without being able to work or support himself, and has been dependent on the kindness of others," Avinur wrote.
