It’s the third time in two months jewel thieves have hit Cannes, reports CBS News correspondent Charlie D’Agata

PARIS A state prosecutor says the organizer of a diamond exhibit and sale has more than doubled the estimated value of diamond jewelry stolen in a brazen weekend heist at a luxury hotel on the French Riviera — to some $136 million.

The elevated value of the jewels taken has caused some in the French press to dub it the “Heist of the Century.”

Police had previously said Sunday’s theft at the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel had netted euro40 million ($53 million) in loot — even at that level, one of biggest jewelry heists in recent years.

Assistant prosecutor Philippe Vique said the Dubai-based organizer of the diamond show has raised the value based on a more complete inventory.

Vique said authorities are looking for a lone suspect who broke in through French doors at the hotel that opens out onto Cannes’ famed Croisette. The suspect then fled on foot.

Officials say the robber’s face was covered, and that the thief made off with whole bags of rings, watches and earrings inlaid with precious stones, according to Le Monde newspaper. The robber was allegedly armed with an automatic pistol.

The jewels were stolen from the company founded by an Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev, whom the New York Times described in 2007 as “probably Israel’s richest man” and “the man who broke the De Beers international diamond cartel.” He allegedly has business interests spanning multiple industries and continents.

Police and investigators have so far disclosed no leads or motives in the crime.

The Carlton, on the glittering French Riviera was the setting of Hitchcock’s “To Catch a Thief,” where Grace Kelly’s charms lured Carey Grant’s cat burglar.

It’s the third time in two months jewel thieves have hit Cannes, reports CBS News correspondent Charlie D’Agata. The last two robberies were the work of sophisticated gangs, said French journalist Daniel Pageon.

“I’m not talking about somebody knocking on the head of an old lady to pinch her purse. There they are very often organized gangs,” Pageon told CBS News. “They plan it like a military operation. It’s a film scenario so, of course it happens in Cannes.”

The robbery coincides with a three-days-ago jail break in Switzerland 부산출장안마 by two alleged members of the notorious “Pink Panther” jewel thief gang. The Eastern Europe network is blamed for high-profile jewelry robberies worth hundreds of millions of dollars. They are so far not blamed for the most recent robbery.

Related Posts

Updated 4:25 a.m
This book can change your life. “And when you think ‘Book of Mormon,’ you think, ‘Broadway musical,'” Braver put to Trey Parker. “You think, perfect! That’s exactly what we thought,” he replied. WEB EXTRA! Click here to watch video of extended interviews with the cast and crew of “The Book of Mormon”!”Book of Mormon” big winner at Drama Desk Awards Photos; “The Book of Mormon” on Broadway Total sense – if you are Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the irreverent creators of “South Park. They’ve had such a longtime fascination with Mormonism, the religion founded in 1830 in upstate New York by Joseph Smith, that they did an episode of their TV show about it. (“God and Jesus appeared before me and they said I should start my own church because none of the others had it right.”) “Mormonism is an American religion, and it’s young, and you can kind of look at its origins and its stories a little bit easier,” said Stone. “It’s not 2,000 years ago. It’s only 200 years ago.” “And when we met Bobby, and he had the same thought, we were just like yeah! It’s perfect!” said Parker. “Bobby” is Robert Lopez, one of the creators of the Broadway hit “Avenue Q.” He met the “South Park” guys when they came to see that musical: “And after the show I took them out for a drink, and they said, ‘What are you working on next,” Lopez said. “And I said, ‘Well, I’ve been thinking about doing something about Mormons or about Joseph Smith.’ And they said, ‘That’s what we’ve been wanting to do since college. We’ve had that in our back pocket.'” “So, how weird that? That all three of you were fascinated and thought it was a subject for musical comedy?” asked Braver. It was weird enough – they called it “a sign” – they decided to do it together. What ensued was seven years in the making! “Two by two, we’re marching door to door,
A friend dragged them downtown to hear a new girl singer

No comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *