The long strange saga of the 180 000 carat emerald.

It's not clear when Catlett teamed up with Conetto against Thomas, but Catlett proposed that Thomas and Conetto go to Brazil to buy emeralds at cut-rate prices. In photographs from the evening, Catlett, Conetto, and Thomas look like old friends. Catlett, Conetto, and the Brazilians would later argue in court that Thomas was simply paying their expenses as part of their failed investment scheme. As the two parties were on the verge of a settlement, in which Conetto would pay Morrison $5 million, news coverage of the case led four other claimants to come out of the woodwork, saying in court they'd been swindled by either Conetto or Morrison. [Extracted from the article]