"Federal prosecutors are gathering information about a bribery scandal at a diamond-grading laboratory in Manhattan that is known as the nations most trusted evaluator of the quality of precious gems, people close to the inquiry said," the New York Times report. Destino told the New York Times the employees had "improper contact" with dealers who had submitted diamonds for grading. The violations involved only a "handful of stones," he said, though he declined to provide a specific number.

The New York Times published an article about the investigation at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) on December 19, 2005. The scandal that had already rocked GIA took a new turn. "The investigation uncovered a handful of employees and a handful of clients who violated GIA code of ethics," Ralph Destino, chairman of the institute and chairman emeritus of Cartier, said in an interview. He confirmed last night that the institutes lawyers had turned over information to prosecutors about violations of its code of conduct by the four unidentified employees who were dismissed and a "handful" of the labs customers.

The report stated that Mr. Destino would not say which laws the institutes lawyers believed may have been broken. Heather Tasker, a spokeswoman for the United States attorneys office in Manhattan, said she could neither confirm nor deny that an investigation was under way. According to the New York Times article, Mr. Destino said members of the diamond-trading industry had "grossly exaggerated" the size of the problems at the lab.