Page 446 - The Case Lab Book

uncertainties, told the company’s new auditors that £11m was a genuine market
value.

When the administrators tried to sell the ruby they found the document showing
the £11 million valuation was a forgery and that the uncut gem was just a 2kg lump

of anyolite, a type of brightly coloured crystal fairly common in East Africa and
practically worthless. Moreover, £11m would also mean that the gem was worth
£8.4m more than any ruby in history.

The creditors report said:

"It has been confirmed that the valuation relied upon in the year

ending 31st December 2007 statutory accounts of Wrekin
Construction Co Ltd (WCC), purportedly issued by the Instituto
Gemmologico Italiano is a forged document.”

"The source of the forgery is not known. The gem had been included
as an £11m current asset in WCC's balance sheet."

It added:

"At this time it is not possible to place a value on the uncut stone."

Unwin claimed he had been the victim of a third party valuation fraud. He said: "I
believed it [the stone] to be worth a lot more when I bought it."

The investigations by the Insolvency Service also found that in the weeks before
the gem was transferred to Wrekin, Unwin acknowledged in a meeting with the

company’s former auditors there were uncertainties about the gem’s value. It also
said Mr Ibbotson, Wrekin Construction’s finance director, was aware of those
uncertainties, but told the company’s new auditors that £11m was a genuine market

value.

2007, Tamar switched its auditors from the Big Four practice, KPMG to Ashgates
Corporate Services, a small Derby based accountancy group after Tamar bought

Wrekin. Ashgates accepted the gem’s value of £11 million.

Insolvency Service spokesman Pabitar Powar said: