The Court of Appeals, flagging some "fine print" on the back of the document, ruled this month that "M&L gave diamonds to [Sotheby's], told [the Sotheby's specialist] they belonged to M&L, and left them for Sotheby's to appraise in anticipation of a consignment sale."

It continued: "There was no agreement yet that Sotheby's definitely would auction the diamonds for M&L, but a potential auction was the point of Sotheby's involvement. Sotheby's breached this agreement by giving the diamonds to [a] stranger."

A Sotheby's spokesperson pushed back against that framing, telling CNN Business, "The person who retrieved the property was an authorized agent for Jadelle. Consignors regularly instruct Sotheby's to release to an agent and here, upon pick-up, the agent provided the necessary identification as required."

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In a statement, Sotheby's also said it "regards the allegations in the complaint as baseless and riddled with untruths and mischaracterizations. We will continue to vigorously defend this in court."

Jadelle's phone number has been disconnected and its website no longer exists; Rechnitz could not be reached for comment. M+L Financial could also not be reached for comment.

The Court of Appeals, flagging some "fine print" on the back of the document, ruled this month that "M&L gave diamonds to [Sotheby's], told [the Sotheby's specialist] they belonged to M&L, and left them for Sotheby's to appraise in anticipation of a consignment sale."

It continued: "There was no agreement yet that Sotheby's definitely would auction the diamonds for M&L, but a potential auction was the point of Sotheby's involvement. Sotheby's breached this agreement by giving the diamonds to [a] stranger."

A Sotheby's spokesperson pushed back against that framing, telling CNN Business, "The person who retrieved the property was an authorized agent for Jadelle. Consignors regularly instruct Sotheby's to release to an agent and here, upon pick-up, the agent provided the necessary identification as required."

*

In a statement, Sotheby's also said it "regards the allegations in the complaint as baseless and riddled with untruths and mischaracterizations. We will continue to vigorously defend this in court."

Jadelle's phone number has been disconnected and its website no longer exists; Rechnitz could not be reached for comment. M+L Financial could also not be reached for comment.