An application from Regina’s Merchant Law Group for a class action law suit against De Beers for allegedly inflating the price of diamonds, and for the unfair results from a separate class action case, will not be heard before the Supreme Court.
Lawyer Tony Merchant says it’s a complicated case. A settlement was reached with De Beers through a different legal team in 2016.
It stated that anyone in Canada who bought a Gem Grade Diamond between 1994 and mid-October of 2016 would be compensated through a $9.4-million settlement.
Merchant says once you take off the lawyers’ fees, it would work out to about $5.8-million, meaning each claimant would only get about $2.
Merchant’s class action suit objected to that amount saying it was unfair. De Beers has never admitted fault.
Merchant alleges De Beers would hold back on the amount of diamonds in the marketplace to inflate the price.
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