In ruling, couple loses $1.9M diamond Investment firm wins 4-carat stone

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The couple can appeal the judge's ruling.

LISBON — A judge has decided who has ownership of a diamond valued at $1.9 million.

Judge C. Ashley Pike of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court, in a ruling Friday, said the gem won't be returned to the Columbiana couple that had bought it as an investment.

It will go to a real estate investment company.

The ruling gives the couple, Craig E. and Hilda Rose Newbold, time to file an appeal. The case itself also could be appealed.

The 4-carat "Fancy Blue" heart-shaped diamond has been the topic of a lawsuit since 2005.

That's when the Newbolds filed suit, naming as defendants Esteco Inc. and the corporation's representatives Luther and Mark Thompson, also of Columbiana.

The Newbolds bought the diamond in 2003 as an investment from Providential Opportunities Inc. through William R. Kimpel, also of Columbiana, owner of Kimpel's Jewelry & Gifts Inc., for $1.9 million. The couple instructed the jeweler to pursue a buyer.

The suit says Providential and Kimpel also agreed to return the ring upon demand by the Newbolds.

But in September 2003, the suit says Kimpel, without the Newbolds' knowledge, pledged the ring as his own security for loans from Esteco.

The Thompsons and Esteco, the suit says, were presented the ring as collateral. The stone was separated from its ring setting. Kimpel relinquished possession of the diamond to the defendants, the suit says.

Judge Pike ruled that Kimpel could pledge the ring as his own security for the loans. Esteco legally registered its claim to the diamond with state authorities in 2003.

The judge also ruled that the couple could have legally protected their legal right to the diamond.

"The plaintiffs, unfortunately for them, chose not to perfect an interest [in the diamond]," he wrote.

The jewel has been kept in a safety deposit box in National City Bank.

Atty. Bernard Fineman, who practices in East Liverpool and who represents the couple, could not be reached Friday.

Saturday, October 13, 2007