Paris prosecutors have revealed that last month’s €88 million jewellery heist at the Louvre Museum was the work of petty criminals rather than members of an organised crime syndicate.
“This is not quite everyday delinquency… but it is a type of delinquency that we do not generally associate with the upper echelons of organised crime,” Laure Beccuau, Paris’s chief prosecutor, said in an interview with franceinfo radio on Sunday.
The high-profile theft, which stunned France and the wider art world, took place on 19 October at the world’s most visited museum. Investigators said the suspects managed to steal jewels valued at €88 million (£76 million; $102 million) in broad daylight.
According to Beccuau, the four people arrested and charged so far are “clearly local people” from Seine-Saint-Denis, a working-class suburb north of Paris. Two of the male suspects have previous theft convictions, she added.
A 38-year-old woman has been charged with complicity in organised theft and criminal conspiracy, while a 37-year-old man faces charges of theft and criminal conspiracy. The pair, who are reportedly in a relationship and have children together, have both denied involvement.
Two other men arrested earlier were also charged with theft and conspiracy, with prosecutors saying they had “partially recognised” their role in the heist.
Authorities believe four men carried out the robbery, and one suspect remains at large. Three other individuals detained earlier in the week have been released without charge.
The investigation continues as French authorities work to trace the missing jewels and uncover how such a high-value theft was executed in one of the world’s most secure cultural landmarks.
Melissa Enoch
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