The jewelry stolen in Cannes cost more than 100 million euros

The French law enforcement agencies doubled the damage from the bold theft committed last Sunday at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes. Initially, the abduction of jewelry for 40 million euros was reported, but now the prosecutor’s office found out that we are talking about "theft of a century" for more than 100 millions of euros.

This is one of the largest thefts of jewelry in Europe in the 21st century, the BBC television and radio company emphasizes. Meanwhile, over the past two months, this is already the second major theft in the Cannes resort.

The offender took advantage of the fact that in one of the wings of the fashionable hotel Carlton Intercontinental, that on the embankment of Kroazett, from July 20, the Leviev jewelry company, owned by the Israeli billionaire and a native of Tashkent Lev Levieva, is being held. The unique exposition presented was fully consistent with the name of the exhibition - "Extraordinary Diamonds" ("Rare diamonds").

According to eyewitnesses, in broad daylight into the hall where the exhibition was held, a man armed with a pistol broke in gloves and a baseball cap. His face was wrapped in a scarf, writes Rossiyskaya Gazeta .

In a matter of minutes, the raider in front of the guards, sellers and manager took possession of jewelry, including a dozen pairs of hours with dials strewn with diamonds, and went away.

“He left on foot. Everything happened very quickly and without any violence,” said the assistant prosecutor Cannes Grass Philip Vic. True, the accomplice on the motorcycle was waiting for the robber Kruisett, who helped him quickly hide.

The largest robbery became possible because the organizers of the exhibition showed carelessness. The Directorate of the Rare Diamonds did not come into contact with the city administration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, hoping for its own forces.

According to one version, Milan Polich was involved in the theft of diamonds - a member of the international criminal group "Pink Panther" . Over the past 20 years, this gang has implemented a series of high -profile crimes, and it consists of veterans of military operations in the Balkans.

The number of "pink panther" reaches 200 people. Robbers are suspected of 120 robberies of jewelry stores in about 20 countries on several continents: criminals were "celebrated" in Europe, the USA and even Japan and the United Arab Emirates. The damage caused to jewelers, according to the most approximate estimates, is about $ 600 million.

It is curious that the gang not only took the name from the series "Pink Panther", but even used tricks from these cartoons. So, in 2002, Milland Ruler Milan Jobtik hid a stolen ring with a diamond worth about 800 thousand dollars in a jar of face cream that his girlfriend used.

In 2007, members of the Pink Panther even robbed a store in the prestigious Ginza area in Tokyo. The raiders were well dressed in ironed shirts and each carried an umbrella in their hands. And from the scene of the crime, they disappeared on bicycles, given the traffic jams. The whole robbery took 36 seconds.

Since 2009, Milan Polich was kept in the Swiss Orb prison near the border with France, where he was serving a seven -year term. However, on July 25, he escaped with the help of the Kalashnikov accomplices armed with machine guns. While the guards were hiding under a hail of bullets released by bandits, Pogarich escaped outside the prison and disappeared on the car waiting for him. Together with him, the kidnapper of children Adrian Albrecht also escaped.

Cannes "on the sight" robbers

Literally in May, when Milan Pogarich was still “steamed” in prison, in Cannes, under similar circumstances, another theft of jewelry was committed. Then the criminals entered the Novotel Hotel on Carno Boulevard and stole the products of the Swiss company Chopard, which is not only the sponsor of the famous film festival, but also the creator of the Golden Palm Branch. Fortunately, the main award was hidden in time, and she did not fall into the hands of robbers.

And a few days later, during a secular raute near Cannes to Cape Antibe, a favorite place for billionaires, unknown people abducted a diamond necklace of another Swiss company De Grisogono worth two million euros.

The press robbery in Cannes Press compares with an attack on the Almatic Center in Antwerp in 2003, during which jewelry worth about 100 million euros were stolen.

By the way, in 1994, Carlton Intercontinental also became the object of attack of robbers. Then the criminals stole from the jewelry boutique about $ 60 million. It has not been possible to catch the attackers so far, writes The Daily Mail .

In recent years, several members of the Pink Panther have been please in jail. In 2007, in Japan for an unprecedented robbery, the damage from which exceeded $ 20 million, three bandits were convicted. Among their production was, in particular, The Comtesse de Vendome, consisting of 116 diamonds.

In 2008, three "pink panthers" in France were read out the verdict. Other members of the group were arrested in Cyprus, in Monaco and Rome. In March 2012, in Athens, when trying to robbing, three Serbs were captured in wigs. One of them has already escaped from prison.

However, looking for stolen jewelry was even more difficult than detaining criminals. And the press compares the “pink panther” with a polyphonic hydra, which even arrests do not help to win.