Staff accidentally throw away $5m of diamonds

They say that one man's trash is another man's treasure and that has never been more literally the case than when two jewellery shop employees threw away $5 million worth of diamonds.

Workers at a New York City shop, reported to be J. Birnbach Inc., came across a few old looking boxes which they later threw away, not realising there was a fortune's worth of diamonds inside.

One of the building's security guards, Wilfred Martinez, 47, came across the small treasure and decided to barter the glittering stones on the black market.

But unlike old-fashioned pirates on the open seas who might have done something similar, there are strict laws in New York so Martinez was caught and arrested by the NYPD.

So, now he's probably gone from feeling like the richest man in the world to feeling like the poorest.

According to the New York Post, Judge Melissa Crane has set the thief's bail at $100,000.

Last year the auction house, Sotheby's were forced to buy back a 59.6 carat pink diamond after the buyer defaulted.

Isaac Wolf, a diamond cutter, originally bid on the stone using money from supposed financial investors who must have been rather generous given that the top quality gem sold for $83 million.

According to Forbes, Woolf outbid three rival buyers to win the right to buy the gem.

But there was one small catch... Isaac Wolf never paid for the 'Pink Star' diamond.

Wolf said: "It's not that I'm buying this with the money that I have in my piggy bank."

Adding: "It's basically a group of investors—financial people—that are backing me on this and they are doing this as an investment, and hopefully to make a big profit."