Dutch diamond guard disappears with $8m

The thief stole the entire stock of the branch

The hunt is on for a Dutch security guard who walked out of work with $8m of diamonds under his arm.

The 25-year-old man, identified by police only as Denis P, had arrived at work with a box containing a new microwave oven.

I feel terrible, I'm completely astonished

Benno Leeser, company director

When he left, the box was filled with diamonds.

"When [staff] opened the safe there was nothing there any more," said Benno Leeser, director of the Amsterdam company, Gassan Diamonds.

The guard made off with the entire stock from that branch of the firm. The diamonds were not insured.

Vanished

"I feel terrible, I'm completely astonished," said Mr Leeser.

The guard appears to have vanished without a trace.

Mr Leeser said he had checked his credentials very thoroughly before employing him in April, adding he had previously been an army cook who had served in Bosnia.

Last year police in London foiled an attempt to carry out the biggest diamond theft ever.

Officers lay in wait at the Millennium Dome as robbers smashed their way into the visitor centre to steal De Beers diamonds, worth an estimated £350m ($497m).