Kimberley - A Kimberley diamond trader and owner of Florio-Poone Diamonds CC, was on Thursday held at gunpoint in her Monument Height’s home by two men who robbed her of her family’s jewellery and diamonds worth more than R1 million.
The incident comes after a recent spate of attacks and robberies on local diamond traders, including the owner of Pikwane Diamonds, Trevor Pikwane, who was shot in the chest during an apparent armed robbery in April.
On Thursday, an emotional Antonella Florio-Poone told the DFA how two men, pretending to be diamond traders from Douglas, lured her into her house in the pretext of wanting to sell her diamonds.
Once inside, the men turned against her and placed two guns against her head and demanded that she gave them money, diamonds and the keys to the family’s safe.
Florio-Poone and her husband, Edward, own Florio-Poone Diamonds CC, which is a business trading in rough diamonds, supplying both the domestic and international markets. Edward was not at home at the time of the incident.
“I was so scared because when I told them that I did not have the keys to the safe they threatened to fetch my children, who were in the car outside with my mother and their nannies.
“I cried and begged them not to involve my children. They then tied me up with a belt and locked me in the bathroom before making off with the jewellery and diamonds as well as R20 000 in cash and two CCTV hard-drives,” Florio-Poone said.
She explained that the nightmare started at about 9am when she was about to leave with her mother, Tina Florio, and her two sons, Valentino, 8, and Neo, 3, as well as the boys’ nannies for a holiday in Lesotho.
“I was not far from the house when I got a phone call from a man telling that they had a 12 carat diamond that they wanted to sell. I then turned back and parked at the gates of the house in Hugo Street,” Florio-Poone explained.
She said she walked into the house with the men and led them into her office, where they pulled out the firearms.
“They threatened to kill me and my family if I did not give them anything, so I took them to the guestroom to give them the money. However, they insisted that they wanted diamonds. After I gave them the diamonds, jewellery and money, they tied me up with a duct tape and left me in the bathroom.
“I managed to untie myself and walked out of the bathroom. One of the men, who was still in the house, saw me and said that I was ‘naughty’. He then tied me up with one of my husband’s belts and locked me in the bathroom,” Florio-Poone added.
She said she screamed for help until one of her sons’ nannies came to open the door for her.
Florio-Poone’s mother, Tina Florio, said she became concerned when she saw one of the men walking out of the house alone about 30 minutes after they first went inside.
“I then asked one of the nannies to go and check why my daughter was taking so long,” Tina said.
The nanny, who did not want to be named, said that she heard Florio-Poone’s screams as she entered the house. She immediately pressed the panic button but the alarm did not go off.
“I then ran back to the car and told them what was happening. We managed to get Florio-Poone out of the bathroom through the bathroom’s emergency door which leads to the outside. It appears as if the robbers took the keys of the bathroom door with them when they left.”
Florio-Poone’s eight-year-old son, Valentino, said that he also heard his mother’s screams coming from the bathroom. “I thought that she was crying because she had hurt herself,” he said.
According to the police, the two suspects fled the scene on foot.
“We request the assistance of members of the public in tracking down the suspects,” police spokeswoman, Lieutenant Andrea Cloete, said.
The public is warned that the suspect are armed and dangerous and should not be appoached.
The police request that information regarding the incident be forwarded to Detective Warrant officer Dibebe at 082 3020 407.
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