PETALING JAYA, Aug 9 ― Indonesian singer Firman Siagian, who claimed he was gifted fake diamonds by cosmetics mogul Datuk Seri Hasmiza Othman also known as Vida, is now retracting his allegations.
This comes after the 41-year-old was told the diamonds were genuine following an appraisal at a jewellery shop in Kuala Lumpur, according to Malay portal mStar.
Firman won the Vida-sponsored diamonds during Gegar Vaganza 4 (GV4), a reality television series for professional singers.
“At first my wife who was wearing the diamonds was told by someone that it looked fake. I didn’t think much of it because the gift was from a programme sponsored by Astro,” Firman told an mStar reporter who was present at the appraisal session yesterday.
But after veteran Malaysian singer Aishah raised the issue of fake jewellery after winning GV4, Firman began having doubts.
“I wanted to know and was worried about the earrings' authenticity,” he said.
“Then I brought the diamond earrings to a goldsmith in Bandung, Indonesia but they required the original certificate.”
The Kehilangan singer issued a statement on July 18 claiming the earrings were worth less than what was announced during the competition.
Nevertheless, he was satisfied that the diamonds are genuine.
“I hope my singer friends who receive jewellery as a prize in GV4 will appraise their items just as I did to clear any negative misconceptions about Vida.
“I’m also not too bothered about the value of the diamonds which was worth RM10,000 instead of RM30,000 as Vida claimed.
“Knowing that it’s genuine is good enough for me.”
Previously, GV4 winner Aishah whose real name is Wan Aishah Wan Ariffin revealed an RM80,000 necklace which she won ― also sponsored by Vida ― was fake following an evaluation at a goldsmith.
The year-long debacle finally ended when the Janji Manismu singer received her compensation from Vida who agreed to replace the fake necklace with five pieces of authentic jewellery.
