Sarine Technologies Ltd announced that the Israeli police had detained two persons on suspicion that they were attempting to illegally obtain the company’s confidential intellectual property. In a press release issued on July 23, the Company said that one of the suspects has been remanded to custody for further investigation, while the other was released. Both the individuals are of Indian nationality, Sarine said in the release.

Giving the background to the incident, Sarine said that some time ago, some of their employees reported that they had been approached by a third party offering to buy key intellectual property pertaining to Sarine's diamond manufacturing products. A private investigator hired by Sarine, engaged with the third party and after correspondence and an initial meeting, set up another meeting in Tel Aviv, the Company added.

At this meeting, the two individuals are reported to have handed over US$ 100,000 in cash, said to be an advance payment against an agreed US$1,000,000, to be paid in exchange for Sarine’s GalaxyTM system schematics, list of parts and vendors thereof and software source code.

Sarine said that the police are searching for a third individual who was reported to have been present at the first meeting.

David Block, CEO of Sarine, stated that, "Sarine is fully committed to, and invests millions of dollars in the advancement of the diamond industry. We wish to reiterate that Sarine will aggressively defend its intellectual property in all places and at all times, with all the means that are necessary and appropriate. Unfortunately, this is another example of how far and how low unethical players will go to attain our technology illegally."