Police seek 'Pink Panthers' suspect over Chelsea jewel theft

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/09/police-seek-pink-panthers-suspect-over-chelsea-jewel-theft

Version 0 of 1.

An international diamond thief once believed to have been part of the notorious Pink Panther network is suspected to have struck a Chelsea art fair, making off with three rings worth more than £2m.

Vinko Osmakcic, a Croatian believed to be behind a number of high-value diamond thefts across Europe and the US, is wanted in connection with the disappearance of the jewellery from the event at the Royal Hospital Chelsea last year, Scotland Yard said.

The rings were removed from a cabinet at the Masterpiece London 2017 event at the famous retirement home on Royal Hospital Road on 4 July at around 5.30pm.

The Metropolitan police have reissued an image of a man they believe to be Osmakcic in a fresh attempt to solve the case. It shows a bespectacled man with receding grey hair, dressed in a blue polo shirt and jeans.

Osmakcic was identified in 2010 by the New Yorker as being part of the Pink Panther network, named by Interpol after the crime-comedy films starring Peter Sellers. It was reported that he was a suspect in heists in Basel, Honolulu and Las Vegas among others.

DS Chris Taylor from Kensington and Chelsea CID, which is leading the investigation, said: “This was a well-planned and audacious theft committed in the middle of a busy art fair.

“It is highly likely that Mr Osmakcic may be out of the UK, possibly in Europe. He may also be known by the following name Vinko Tomic or Juro Markelic.”

One ring featured a cushion-shaped diamond, another had a yellow cushion-shaped stone encased in smaller oval and round diamonds, and the third was an emerald-cut diamond with purple and pink stones and four pear-shaped diamonds.

The prestigious Masterpiece London art fair features at least 160 international exhibitors of art, design, furniture and jewellery.

The Pink Panther network is composed of members from across the Balkan peninsula and is linked to some of the most high-profile robberies and burglaries worldwide.

Interpol has estimated that there are at least 60 members in the gang and possibly even several hundred thieves in the network. At last count, they were thought to have carried out around 380 armed robberies targeting high-end jewellery stores between 1999 and 2015. The combined value of these thefts was more than €334m.