According to a former top French criminal, the jewels stolen in the spectacular art heist at the Louvre in Paris will only bring the perpetrators a few million euros.
The fences would explain to the perpetrators that they would have to dismantle and cut up the jewelry worth an estimated 88 million euros, said former bank robber and jewel thief David Desclos to the broadcaster RTL. “They estimate the value and say: “You can get, say, 3, 4 million, a maximum of 5 million out of 88 million.”
“At this level, everyone has their network of fences. In this milieu, among the fences there are also gemstone cutters who dismantle the jewelry,” said Desclos. “I knew gemstone cutters who ran jewelry stores and also did this on the side,” said the ex-criminal, who has now made a name for himself in France as a comedian. It is probably a matter of days before the loot is dismantled. After that she can no longer be found.
Jewel thieves steal to order
“Sometimes these are orders from billionaires who are passionate about this type of jewelry,” Desclos said of possible backers of the Louvre coup. “Very, very rarely have I had these kinds of contacts who were billionaires who wanted special jewelry.”
When they broke into the Louvre on October 19, the perpetrators stole eight valuable pieces of jewelry from former queens and empresses – including diadems, necklaces, earrings and brooches studded with precious stones. Two suspects who are said to have broken into the Louvre and stolen jewelry from the display cases are now in custody. Five more suspects were arrested on Wednesday evening. So far there is no trace of the loot.