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Gunman steals jewels worth €40m from Cannes exhibition Gunman steals jewels worth €40m from Cannes exhibition
(about 1 hour later)
An armed thief stole jewels and diamonds worth an estimated €40m (£35m) in a daring heist on a jewellery exhibition in Cannes on Sunday morning. A lone gunman made off with jewellery and watches worth an estimated €40m (£35m) from a luxury hotel in Cannes on Sunday, in what was reported to be France's second biggest jewel heist.
The gunman walked into the luxury Carlton hotel in broad daylight and reportedly headed for a specialist diamond stand in the exhibition, due to run until the end of August. The man, wearing a mask and gloves and carrying a briefcase, strolled into a diamond exhibition at the Carlton hotel just before midday, threatened staff and visitors and filled the case with jewels and diamond-encrusted watches before walking out.
According to the local newspaper Nice Matin, the thief stuffed a suitcase with gems that were being shown by the prestigious Leviev diamond house, owned by the Moscow-based Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. "It was all over very quickly. There was no violence," a French police officer said. The thief entered the hotel alone, but police said they believed he had an accomplice waiting outside.
The Carlton hotel is on the exclusive Promenade de la Croisette that stretches a mile and a half along the French Riviera. It is the third significant jewel theft from hotels in the Cannes area in just over two months. During the Cannes film festival in May, thieves stole more than £660,000 worth of jewellery belonging to the exclusive Swiss jeweller and watchmaker Chopard.
The raid comes just over two months after the Cannes film festival was struck by two high-profile jewelry thefts. In the first, robbers stole about £650,000 worth of jewels from a safe in a room at the Suite Novotel. The jewelry was taken from the room of an employee of Chopard, the Swiss-based watch and jewellery maker that loans bling to A-list stars walking the red carpet at the festival. The gems were to have been loaned to A-list film stars and celebrities attending the festival, and were in a safe in a room at the Suite Novotel in Cannes. The thieves removed the whole safe in the middle of the night without forcing the room's door or using a keycard, according to police.
In the other theft. a De Grisogono necklace said to be worth €2m was stolen from a luxury hotel. A week later a necklace reportedly worth €1.9m by the Swiss jeweller De Grisogono vanished after a celebrity party at the five-star Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in the resort town of Cap d'Antibes. Police are investigating whether the raids were the work of the same gang.
"Thieves see Cannes as rich pickings," said a police officer with the crime squad in Nice, which is investigating the raid. "A full and urgent operation is under way to catch the culprit and recover these jewels."
Another police officer told the Nice Matin newspaper: "The raid took place in broad daylight at a time when hundreds of tourists were enjoying the sunshine. It could not have been more daring. The thief took advantage of the crowds and the fact it was Sunday and the atmosphere was relaxed."
Police refused to say whether they were linking the raid with the escape of a member of the notorious Pink Panther gang from a Swiss jail on Thursday.
Milan Poparic fled with another inmate from Orbe prison, in the western Swiss state of Vaud, after his accomplices rammed a prison gate and overpowered guards with bursts from their AK-47 automatic rifles. Police said he was the third member of the Pink Panthers to have escaped in as many months.
Interpol believes that the group has been targeting luxury watch, gem and jewellery stores in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States since 1999 and has netted more than €330m.
The stolen diamonds had been on show since 20 July and were supposed to remain at the Carlton until the end of August in a temporary exhibition called Extraordinary Diamonds, organised by the prestigious Leviev diamond house owned by the Russian-born Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev.
Leviev, 57, who is described as a diamond dealer, businessman and philanthropist, owns diamond mines in Russia and Africa and is a major competitor to the African diamond giant De Beers. The father-of-nine has a £35m home in Hampstead and last year was involved in a high-profile high court battle against a former business partner, Arkady Gaydamak, which he won.
Staff at the Carlton, situated on the exclusive Promenade de la Croisette, said they had been told not to give any information about the raid.
Police unions criticised the practice of jewellery companies holding exhibitions in luxury hotels, saying they could not provide the necessary security to prevent thefts. In August 1994, a security guard was shot at the Carlton as he tried to stop thieves making off with gems in a similar exhibition.
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