Spectacular $108,000,000 jewelry theft

[RandomGuy]

Robbers in drag get millions in Paris jewel theft

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081205/..._jewel_robbery

PARIS – Armed robbers — some disguised as women — snatched euro85 million ($108 million) worth of diamond rings, necklaces and luxury watches from a Harry Winston boutique on a posh Paris avenue in one of the largest jewel heists in history, officials said Friday.

The gang of three or four robbers threatened about 15 employees with handguns and hit some on the head before taking the jewels from display cases from the store near the Champs-Elysees, said a police official, who was not authorized to be publicly named under agency policy.

At least two of the bandits were men wearing wigs and women's clothes, the official said. The robbers also spoke a foreign language at times and appeared to know employees' names when they robbed the store before it closed early Thursday at the height of Christmas shopping season.

The brazen theft was among the world's costliest jewel heists. Five years ago, thieves plundered 123 maximum-security vaults in Antwerp, Belgium, stealing $100 million (euro78.96 million) worth of diamonds in the biggest theft in the world's diamond-cutting capital.

"We are cooperating with the authorities in their investigation. Our first concern is the well-being of our employees," New York-based Harry Winston said.

Rhonda Barnat, a spokeswoman for the company, did not provide further details.

The boutique on Avenue Montaigne was closed to the public Friday. Employees who came out for cigarette breaks refused to speak to reporters, and three of the five display windows stood empty of their usual wares.

A Paris judicial official said Harry Winston declared to insurers that the stolen goods were worth euro85 million ($108 million). The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The Harry Winston boutique was targeted in a similar theft in October 2007, when three people forced employees to open safes and hand over euro10 million ($12.66 million)worth of jewels.

A security monitoring group for the French jewelry industry has reported a 20 percent rise in armed robberies this year over last, with 132 incidents in the first 11 months of 2008.

In London, police have reported a recent rise in holdups of security vans. Police say it could be linked to the credit crunch and predict the trend to continue as Christmas approaches.

A half-century ago, company founder Harry Winston donated the Hope Diamond — the world's largest blue diamond and famed for the bad luck that it brought its owners — to the Smithsonian Ins ution.

The legendary 76-year-old U.S. company's Web site says stars including Gwyneth Paltrow, Elizabeth Taylor and Madonna, and royalty including Queen Elizabeth II of Britain are among those who have donned its jewelry.

Two vendors at retail shops Max Mara and Louis Vuitton next to or in front of the jewelry store said they did not notice anything of the Thursday afternoon heist until police sirens wailed.

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These guys were smooooth criminals. Damn. If I were going to be a criminal, this would be the way to go.

Actually, the better way to steal money is to become the CEO of Home Depot... he never got charged with a crime, and essentially got away with running the company into the ground, but still earning a $150,000,000 severance package. Sweet. Stupid shareholders deserved to be fleeced, biyatches.

[balli]

These guys were smooooth criminals. Damn. If I were going to be a criminal, this would be the way to go.

Yup, that is smooth. Jewelry store theft is legit. Just the other night I saw a story on my local news about a late night smash and grab from a downtown jewelry store. They said the guys were in and out in under 2 minutes with over $150,000 large worth of loot. All they had was like a grainy video snippet of two guys dressed head to toe in black and the newsmans all like, "if anybody recognizes these two individuals, call...". What a joke. They'll never be caught. So, I agree. Jewelry store theft FTW!

[mrsmaalox]

But what can they do with that jewelry? Wouldn't it be easy to trace back to them?

[ORION]

But what can they do with that jewelry? Wouldn't it be easy to trace back to them?

yeah because diamonds have serial numbers ..........

[KenMcCoy]

yeah because diamonds have serial numbers ..........

They do...the one I bought for my fiance at Jared's ("he went to Jared's") has a s/n on it. They check it (using a microscope i guess?? or some type of magnifying glass thing) every time she takes it to get cleaned or maintained.

[ORION]

They do...the one I bought for my fiance at Jared's ("he went to Jared's") has a s/n on it. They check it (using a microscope i guess?? or some type of magnifying glass thing) every time she takes it to get cleaned or maintained.

thanks for ruining everything

[balli]

Spoiler Alert for season 2 of the Wire below:

You know that scene where Ziggy is trying to sell the boosted Mercedes to the Greek shop owner, Glaucus or whoever? The Greek guy is all like, "What am I supposed to do with stolen cars?"

Says Ziggy (paraphrased), "Well chief, it would be a sad day and age when an international entrepreneur like yourself didn't know what to do with a fine fleet of brand new Mercedes Benz automobiles and I bet you got a whole bunch of relatives back in the homeland who couldn't give two s about whether these cars have stolen American VIN #'s on em or not. Am I right chief?" The Greek dude just smiles.

And from what I gather through the lens of Western Media, the world of diamonds is pretty heavy on corruption. Serial numbers don't mean .

[DarkReign]

Only idiots steal a commodity first, then find a buyer.

Moreover, idiots do not pull off this crime.

[baseline bum]

$108,000,000 for ing pieces of carbon.

Gotta love consumerism.

[The Reckoning]

lol france.

[ShoogarBear]

Okay, you know there's going to be a movie. Who's the cast?

And . . . ONE of the world's biggest jewel heists? There've been bigger?