The case of former supermodel Naomi Campbell and the three “blood diamonds” seems to get murkier.

A day after Campbell told a war crimes tribunal in The Hague that she had received some “dirty-looking stones” after a 1997 dinner party with former Liberian ruler Charles Taylor, the diamonds were at the centre of a second criminal investigation, police said.

Detectives in South Africa seized the stones from the home of Nelson Mandela charity trustee Jeremy Ratcliffe and have opened a criminal case against him.

Campbell told a war crimes tribunal this week that she gave the uncut diamonds to Mr Ratcliffe, then a director of Mr Mandela’s children’s foundation, with instructions to use them to help impoverished children, the Daily Mail reported.

But it was disclosed that police had seized them from a safe at Mr Ratcliffe’s home in Johannesburg.

It came as the South African businessman admitted he had kept the fact secret for 13 years.

Three officers from The Hawks, the South African police’s elite investigations unit, picked up the stones from Mr Ratcliffe’s home on Tuesday night.

Mr Ratcliffe was not arrested.

Protect reputations

He said on Friday that he kept the stones and did not report them to authorities in a bid to protect the reputations of Mr Mandela, Campbell and the charity, of which he was a founder and remains a trustee, AP reported.

“I took them because I thought it might well be illegal for her to take uncut diamonds out of the country,” Mr Ratcliffe was quoted as saying.

In a statement, he indicated he knew there could be wrongdoing, saying “I told her (Campbell) I would not involve the NMCF (Mandela’s children’s charity) in anything that could possibly be illegal”.

“In the end I decided I should just keep them,” he said.

The South African Diamond Board confirmed the three stones were uncut diamonds and were being held by police as evidence.

Possessing unpolished diamonds is illegal in South Africa, following a clampdown on the jewel trade.

South African politician Patricia de Lille, another trustee of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, said she was “very, very sad and disappointed” that Mr Ratcliffe had not reported the rough diamonds to the charity.

Meanwhile, in another development, modelling agent Carole White will tell the war crimes tribunal that he sent uncut stones to Campbell, court papers show.

Miss White’s evidence is likely to contradict Campbell’s testimony on Thursday.

She has told prosecutors that the supermodel and Mr Taylor “were mildly flirtatious with each other” and discussed the diamond gift at the dinner hosted by South African president Nelson Mandela, AFP reported.

“(White) heard Mr Taylor tell Ms Campbell that he was going to send her diamonds,” according to notes of an interview the prosecution had with Miss White.

“It was arranged that he would send some men back with the gift.”

According to Miss White, Campbell “seemed excited about the diamonds and she kept talking about them”.

Prosecutors hope details from that star-studded dinner at Mr Mandela’s mansion on Sep 26, 1997 – and what transpired later that night – will help prove Taylor traded in illegally mined diamonds to arm rebels in Sierra Leone.

Big grin

A photograph of the guests at the 1997 soiree shows the then 27-year-old Campbell, at the height of her supermodel success, looking elegant in a white gown with spaghetti straps, a large crucifix around her neck.

Beside her stood Taylor, his arm outstretched and a big grin on his face.

Also in the photo are President Mandela, his hand gripping that of Graca Machel, his future wife, as well as music producer Quincy Jones, actress Mia Farrow, Hong Kong actor Tony Leung and Pakistani cricket legend Imran Khan and his then wife, English socialite Jemima Khan.

Taylor, 62, is accused of receiving illegally mined “blood diamonds” in return for arming rebels who murdered, raped and maimed civilians in neighbouring Sierra Leone, amputating their limbs and carving initials on their bodies.

He faces 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the 1991-2001 Sierra Leone civil war that claimed about 120,000 lives.

Campbell’s testimony may be over, but that dinner in 1997 could still be a factor at Taylor’s war crimes trial.

This article was first published in The New Paper.