43.5 CARAT DIAMOND VALUED AT $5 MILLION TO GO UP FOR AUCTION!

This half-dollar-sized diamond is renowned as one of the most blazing baubles ever coughed up by the Earth--and it's going on sale next month.

Dubbed "Golden Eye," the flawless, 43.51 carat gemstone with an "intense yellow" hue was confiscated from a convicted money launderer after a sting that saw an undercover FBI agent pose as the rep for a South American coke kingpin.

The U.S. Marshal's Service will sell the prized jewel that Paul Monea once referred to as "my stone" via on-line auction Sept. 6. Bidding will start at $900,000, officials said.

"There's nothing else like this diamond out there," said Mario Ianelli, co-owner of Ianelli Diamonds in Manhattan. "It's one of a kind," and should fetch upwards of $5 million.

The bizarre story of how federal agents came to have the spectacular stone is worthy of the buzz surrounding its sale.

Monea, an Ohio mogul, made a mint during the 1990s hawking Tae-Bo workout videos with celebrity trainer Billy Blanks through late-night infomercials, The Daily Mail of England reports.

Monea plowed his profits into fast cars, Mike Tyson's former manse in Trumbull County, northeast Ohio, and other toys.

But the entrepreneur was unwittingly snared in an FBI sting, beginning in 2004, by federal agents investigating Michael Miller, the owner of an auto sales business in Canton, Ohio.

FBI agent John Tanza posed as "John Rizzo," a front man for a South American coke cartel looking to launder big bucks, according to court documents.

In March 2006, Miller introduced G-Man Rizzo to Monea, who invited the two to invest in an on-line voyeur website tracking the exploits of a cadre of hotties living in the Tyson mansion. The site was going to be called "Tyson's House Party."

Nothing came of that proposal, but, over tete-a-tetes held from California to Las Vegas, Monea pitched a second money-laundering idea: He would sell Rizzo "his stone."

"In October 2006, Monea and Rizzo had lunch. They talked about Monea's efforts to sell the diamond, and Rizzo mentioned that he had a 'guy down South' who might want to buy it," court documents state.

On Nov. 2, 2006, Monea and Rizzo met another undercover G-Man posing as "Geraldo," or the South American coke kingpin's rep. At the meeting, "Geraldo" agreed to buy the bauble and the Tyson estate from Monea for $19.5 million, plus a boat.

But instead of the cash, Monea was busted, convicted at trial and sent to federal lock-up for 150 months on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is currently appealing the conviction, court records show.

Now the stone is up for sale.

"This precious gem is sure to generate interest worldwide," said U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott.



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