Six of the stolen diamonds recovered by police.

The stolen diamonds

The suspect is caught from a residential complex in Songjiang District.

A man alleged to have stolen seven natural diamonds from ajewelry company he worked for as a salesman has been caught, Shanghai police said on Monday.

The suspect,surnamedJia, had resigned from the company when apprehended by the police.

The diamonds in the case are worth over 7 million yuan (US$1.1 million), police said.

The company, which is inQingpuDistrict, contacted police at the end of November last year.

It claimed that seven diamonds ranging from 1.5 to 6 carats had been substituted with inferior stones in similar shapes.

Suspicion soon fell onJia, who resigned from the company in June last year after working there for seven months.

Police foundhe hadbeen buying fake diamonds from Internet shops since January last year and said they were almost the same shape as the diamonds the company had reported missing.

When Jiawas apprehended in a residential complex in Songjiang District he is said to have confessed.

Police said they found six of the stolen diamonds in his home and were in the process of recovering the seventh, a 1.5-carat diamond whichJiais alleged to have sold to an Internet shop selling second-hand luxury goods for 93,800 yuan.