It had everything a high society event should have: an exotic location, a smattering of celebrities, champagne on tap, hundreds of almost priceless objets d’art — and a heist by Europe’s most infamous gem thieves.
Detectives believe the gang, which took an estimated £10-million of diamonds from the chic antiques fair held beneath the Champs Elysées in Paris last week, are part of a Balkan-based network known as the Pink Panthers. Officers from Scotland Yard and other European police forces have joined Interpol in the hunt for the thieves.
‘They may have this daft name, but they are competent and dangerous,’ said one investigator.
British police thought they had broken up the Pink Panthers last year, when two gang members were convicted for their role in a £20-million London gems raid. Pedja Vujosevic, the 29-year-old mastermind of the operation, had escaped with the stones on a scooter after flying in a team of thieves to help rob a Mayfair jeweller. Later arrested in Paris, Vujosevic was suspected of thefts in Europe and the Far East, including that of the £17-million Comtesse de Vendome necklace in Tokyo. Only £3-million worth of the Mayfair haul has been recovered.
Last Tuesday’s raid bore all the hallmarks of the gang’s work. The diamonds were stolen from under the noses of four saleswomen and two security guards at a display at the Union of Antique Dealers’ bienniale. ‘No one saw anything,’ said Christian Deydier, the president of the union.
Experts told The Observer the chances of the theft being ‘opportunistic’ were ‘nil’. ‘They knew exactly what they wanted long before the show started,’ said Charlie Hill, former head of Scotland Yard’s arts and antiquities squad and now a private art crime investigator.
The show brings together some of the most exclusive salesmen and collectors in Europe.
This year more than 100 exhibitors offered about 8 000 items, including a massive 1948 mobile by US artist Alexander Calder and a large painting by Gustave Courbet, the French Realist painter, recently discovered in an attic. The Calder sold for about £3-million.
All week Europe’s cultural elite viewed the valuable exhibits as white-jacketed waiters proffered champagne. Prices were available on request.
The gang used the crowds as cover to inspect security arrangements. They appear to have noticed that the collection of top Swiss jeweller Chopard had no visible video cameras and that the display cases were not alarmed.
To distract the attention of the security men and saleswomen, the gang sent in dozens of false buyers who crowded the display, asking questions.
When the rush cleared, the diamonds were gone. Only two gems were stolen — a white, 47-carat diamond the size of a cigarette lighter, and a smaller, blue diamond of around 1 carat.
Hill said: ‘It’s a tragedy, but they will be cut up and sold. If the thief makes £1-million, he’ll be lucky.’ – Guardian Unlimited Â