Diamond from crook waiting for highest bidder

A rare 43-carat yellow diamond known as the Golden Eye is up for grabs to the highest bidder.

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“It's known to be internally flawless which makes it extremely rare and unique one of a kind diamond in the marketplace,” said Ann Rote of Bid4Assets, Inc.

Since Tuesday, the diamond is up for auction on the company’s web site at a starting bid of $900,000.

“Anybody who's bidding on the auction had to put a bid deposit of 180-thousand dollars the auction started yesterday morning at 8 a.m.,” Rote said.

Four offers had come in by Wednesday afternoon.

“We expect that in the last hour is when you're going to see a lot of the activity and the bidding,” Rote said. “Personally, I think it will bring in several million dollars.”

While the beauty of the stone is something to be admired, the story behind the diamond is clouded in scandal.

Authorities say the gem once belonged to Ohio businessman Paul Monea, who was convicted of money laundering and conspiracy. Prosecutors say he tried selling the diamond in a FBI sting operation. Monea is now in jail, and the U.S. marshal service passed the diamond on to Rote’s company.

The auction runs until 3 p.m. Thursday.

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