Collapse that turned bizarre.

THE story of the collapse of Wrekin Construction has it all - mysterious gemstones kept under lock and key, forged Italian documents and even the shady dealings of a goat-serum toting businessman purporting to offer a cure for AIDs.

What started out as a sad tale of a business collapsing after its bank withdrew financial support on the same day it won orders worth pounds 50 million turned to the bizarre.

When Wrekin was taken into administration it prompted public outcry over what seemed like a story of bankers pulling the rug out from under the feet of a profitable company. But events took a curious twist when the firm's accounts showed there had been an unusual transaction back in 2007.

Wrekin issued pounds 11 million of preference shares to Derbyshire construction firm Tamar Group - then a minority shareholder but who later took overall control of Wrekin - in exchange for a mysterious ruby named the "Gem of Tanzania".

Wrekin's accounts stated the ruby was valued by the "Instituto Gemmologico Italiano" based in Valenza, Italy, on August 31, 2007.

But the Istituto Gemmologico Italiano (which in Italian is spelt without the "n" in istituto), said it had no records of the "Gem of Tanzania". The valuation was later confirmed by the administrators to have been a forgery. It later emerged the mysterious ruby had been valued on the seller's accounts at just pounds 300,000 a year before..