Both suspects, who were arrested earlier this week, have denied involvement in stealing priceless Napoleonic-era jewellery that remains missing.
The Paris prosecutor says two more people have been handed preliminary charges for their alleged involvement in a recent jewel heist at France’s Louvre Museum, days after they were arrested by Paris police as part of a sweeping probe.
Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement on Saturday that a 37-year-old suspect was charged with theft by an organised gang and criminal conspiracy, while the other, a 38-year-old woman, is accused of being an accomplice.
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Both have been incarcerated and both denied involvement, said Beccuau.
The male suspect has been placed in pre-trial detention pending a hearing to take place in the coming days, said the prosecutor, adding that he had been known to the judicial authorities for previous theft offences.
Beccuau justified the detention of the woman, who lives in the French capital’s northern suburb of La Courneuve, on the grounds of a “risk of collusion” and “disturbance of public order”.
The woman’s lawyer, Adrien Sorrentino, told reporters his client is “devastated” because she disputes the accusations.
“She does not understand how she is implicated in any of the elements she is accused of,” he said.
Five people were arrested by Paris police on Wednesday in connection with the case, including one who was identified by his DNA at the crime scene. Three of them have been released without charges, Beccuau said. Seven people have been arrested in total.
Last month, thieves wielding power tools raided the Louvre, the world’s most visited art museum, in broad daylight, taking just seven minutes to steal jewellery worth an estimated $102m.
French authorities initially announced the arrest of two male suspects over the Louvre robbery.
The two men were charged with theft and criminal conspiracy after “partially admitting to the charges”, Beccuau said this week.
They are suspected of being the two who broke into the gallery while two accomplices waited outside.
Both lived in the northeastern Paris suburb of Aubervilliers.
One is a 34-year-old Algerian national living in France, who was identified by DNA traces found on one of the scooters used to flee the heist. The second man is a 39-year-old unlicensed taxi driver.
Both were known to the police for having committed thefts.
The first was arrested as he was about to board a plane for Algeria at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.
The second was apprehended shortly after near his home, and there was no evidence to suggest that he was planning to go abroad, prosecutors said.
The stolen loot remains missing.
The thieves dropped a diamond- and emerald-studded crown that once belonged to Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III, as they escaped.
The burglars made off with eight other items of jewellery.
Among them are an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave his second wife, Empress Marie-Louise, and a diadem that once belonged to the Empress Eugenie, which is dotted with nearly 2,000 diamonds.
Last week, the Louvre director told the French Senate the museum’s security operations “did not detect the arrival of the thieves soon enough”.
“Today we are experiencing a terrible failure at the Louvre, which I take my share of responsibility in,” the director said, adding that she submitted her resignation to Culture Minister Rachida Dati, who turned it down.
Precious crown jewels including the Parure Marie-Amélie diadème are yet to be recovered
Two more people have been charged over a theft at the Louvre Museum last month, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
A 38-year-old woman has been charged with complicity in organised theft and criminal conspiracy with a view to committing a crime. Separately, a man, aged 37, was charged with theft and criminal conspiracy. Both denied any involvement.
Two men who had previously been arrested were already charged with theft and criminal conspiracy after officials said they had “partially recognised” their involvement in the heist.
Jewels worth €88m (£76m; $102m) were taken from the world’s most-visited museum on 19 October.
Louvre Museum
Louvre Museum
The Marie-Louise necklace and a pair of earrings were among the eight items stolen
A tiara worn by the Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, was taken
Four men carried out the lightning-quick daylight theft.
Two of the alleged thieves – who had been arrested earlier – later admitted their involvement. Another person arrested this week is thought to have taken part in the heist, while the fourth has not yet been caught.
On Saturday, the woman who has been charged was in tears as she appeared before a magistrate and confirmed that she lived in Paris’s northern suburb of La Courneuve, a journalist working for the AFP news agency reported.
The magistrate later ruled that the woman – who has not been named – must stay in custody.
The 37-year-old man – whose identity has also not been revealed – was also ordered to stay in pre-trial detention. He is known to the French justice system for past robberies.
The two were among five people arrested earlier this week in and around the French capital. Three of those held have been released without charge.
Watch: Two people leave Louvre in lift mounted to vehicle
On the day of the heist, the robbers arrived at 09:30 (07:30 GMT), just after the museum opened to visitors, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said last week.
The suspects arrived with a stolen vehicle-mounted mechanical lift to gain access to the Galerie d’Apollon (Gallery of Apollo) via a balcony close to the River Seine. The men used a disc cutter to crack open display cases housing the jewellery.
Prosecutors said the thieves were inside for four minutes and made their escape on two scooters waiting outside at 09:38, before switching to cars.
One of the stolen items – a crown – was dropped during the escape. The other seven jewels have not been found.
The fear is that they have already been spirited abroad, though the prosecutor in charge of the case has said she is still hopeful they can be retrieved intact.
Preliminary results of an enquiry into the robbery were released by Culture Minister Rachida Dati on Friday. She said that for years museum authorities had gravely underestimated the risks of intrusion, and she promised new measures would be in place by the end of the year.
Shortly after the theft it was revealed by the Louvre’s director that the only camera monitoring the Galerie d’Apollon was pointing away from a balcony the thieves climbed over to break in.
Since the incident, security measures have been tightened around France’s cultural institutions.
The Louvre has transferred some of its most precious jewels to the Bank of France following the heist.
If you’re like me, you spent a lot of time over the last few weeks reading about the unbelievably brazen Louvre museum heist. Not only did it provide a welcome respite from obsessing over the destruction of the East Wing, it also supplied an adrenaline boost for the imagination: Who on earth had the nerve to literally cut through a window in broad daylight and leap into the world’s most famous museum in order to grab nearly $102 million worth of crown jewels before escaping on a motor scooter?
My favorite article about the fiasco ran in the Atlantic under the headline “The Louvre Heist is Terrific,” with the subhed, “Here was a dreamy little crime in which no one really got hurt.” The French people beg to differ. In many circles, the crime signaled a glaring national failure. Either way, seven suspects have now been detained by police in connection with the crime, and we will have answers soon enough — even if nobody will ever see the jewels again.
The heist seemed ripped from the script of a Hollywood blockbuster — something along the lines of “Ocean’s Eleven,” starring Vincent Cassel and Omar Sy instead of George Clooney and Matt Damon. As such, it spawned a paroxysm of frenetic, click-sticky activity on social and legacy media alike. Newly-minted CBS news chief Bari Weiss reportedly suggested to staff that they interview “The Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown about the heist. And an online platform called Action Network that analyzes odds, mostly for betting and sports books, released a new U.S. study called “Top 10 Museums Most Vulnerable to a Heist.”
“The study estimates each museum’s implied probability of a heist, showing how visibility, value, and public access combine into a theoretical ‘heist appeal.’ It reflects exposure, not vulnerability. To be clear: we’re not predicting theft. We’re measuring where culture meets risk,” Action Network explained on its website.
It turns out that in Los Angeles, Getty Center and Los Angeles County Museum of Art have the most “heist-appeal,” according to the study. The former comes in at No. 4 on the list, and the latter at No. 7. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art sits in the top place, followed by Washington D.C.’s National Gallery of Art.
The study puts the implied probability of a heist at Getty Center at 3.9%, and gives this sunny description of the campus, “A hilltop postcard with galleries. Open vistas, bright courtyards, and art that draws camera phones nonstop, all under movie-worthy security.”
Movie-worthy security has me thinking: I might write a screenplay featuring a gang of criminals who make a daring escape on the Getty tram with Titian’s Venus and Adonis.
I’m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt, planning my next great adventure. Here’s your arts and culture news for the week.
On our radar
Composer Sarah Kirkland Snider’s opera “Hildegard” will be performed at the Wallis.
(Sarah Kirkland Snider)
Hildegard With her new opera, “Hildegard,” which has its West Coast premiere as part of Los Angeles Opera’s Off-Grand series, Sarah Kirkland Snider joins a broad range of artists enraptured by the earliest remembered composer, Hildegard von Bingen. Her otherworldly sacred vocal music, along with her visionary writing, has made the 12th century mystic philosopher, medical doctor, natural historian and Benedictine abbess a source of late 20th and 21st century fascination. She shows up in texts about gardening, numinous Christianity and the Kabbalah. David Lynch was not the only filmmaker obsessed with the abbess. Her 900th birthday in 1998 was observed by a feminist composer and singer collective, Hildegurls, by inventively staging Hildegard’s luminous “Ordo Virtutum.” Now it is Snider’s turn, assisted by Elkhanah Pulitzer, for a full-scale Hildegard opera. – Mark Swed 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Nov. 8; 2 p.m. Nov. 9. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. laopera.org
Janet Leigh in the famous shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic thriller “Psycho.”
(Associated Press)
Psycho The American Cinematheque celebrates the 65th anniversary of the unleashing of Norman Bates on moviegoers. “Alfred Hitchcock’s terrifying 1960 landmark forever upended the audience’s narrative expectations, changed theatrical exhibition models and probably led to reduced water bills nationwide,” wrote former Times film critic Justin Chang in 2016. “Accept no substitutes.” 7:30 p.m. Friday. Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica. americancinematheque.com
Gail Bean, Biko Eisen-Martin, seated, and Michael Rishawn, standing, star in “Table 17” at Geffen Playhouse.
(Corey Olsen)
Table 17 The West Coast premiere of this rom-com by Douglas Lyons (author of the Broadway comedy “Chicken & Biscuits”) concerns a formerly engaged man and woman who reunite at a restaurant to sift through the past with calm, friendly, objective detachment. What could possibly go wrong? This MCC Theater production, directed by Zhailon Levingston (“Cats: The Jellicle Ball”) features Gail Bean, Biko Eisen-Martin and Michael Rishawn in a play the New York Times described as “comfort food” that “satisfies a genuine craving.” – Charles McNulty Wednesday through Dec. 7. Geffen Playhouse’s Gil Cates Theater, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Westwood. geffenplayhouse.org
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The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY Halloween What better way to experience “All Hallows’ Eve” than by gorging on John Carpenter’s 1978 horror classic and its chillingly insistent piano score with a group of like-minded souls. Jamie Lee Curtis laid the groundwork for the generations of scream queens to follow. 4:15 and 7 p.m. Vidiots, Eagle Theatre, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd. vidiotsfoundation.org
SATURDAY Bluebeard’s Castle The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble presents the American debut of this dark musical thriller laced with romance and horror. A hit in Europe and based on a medieval French fairy tale, it was written and directed by Sofia Streisand and features music by Sergey Rubalsky and Artem Petaykin; lyrics by Elena Hanpira; and choreography by Irina Lyahovskaya, with songs adapted for the English production by Nancy Magarill and Terra Naomi. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday; through Nov. 23. Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. odysseytheatre.com
Día de Los Muertos The Wallis delivers its first Family Fest of the season with a free celebration of the holiday featuring story time with Lil’ Libros authors, plus arts, crafts and learning activities; altar-building workshops with Self Help Graphics & Art; face painting by Color Me Face Painting; and a dance workshop and performance by the Pacifico Dance Company, highlighting traditional styles. 11 a.m. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org
The People’s Party Civics Is Sexy and the NAACP bring together artists, activists and community leaders for two days of film, music and comedy featuring Yasmin Elhady, Chris Dowd of Fishbone, Nic Novicki, Peyton Edmonds and many more. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. NAACP Hollywood Bureau, 5757 Wilshire Blvd. peoplesparty.civicsissexy.co
Pony Cam The experimental Australian collective presents “Burnout Paradise,” in which four performers on treadmills attempt to complete a series of increasingly difficult, boundary-testing tasks in a comedic absurdist interpretation of overachievement. 8 p.m. Saturday; 6 p.m. Sunday. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu
“What we lost in the Ocean,” 2022 (video still) by Ann Le.
(Ann Le)
A Tender Excavation Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions presents a group show of artists working from historical and familial photographic archives to create transformative new stories from Afro-Latinx, African American, Chinese American, Gabrielino/Tongva Nation, Korean American, Iraqi American, Latinx, Mexican, Mexican American, Peruvian American, Thai, Turkish American and Vietnamese American cultures and communities. Opening reception, 2-5 p.m. Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, through Feb. 21, 2026. Cal State L.A., Luckman Gallery, 5151 State University Drive. theluckman.org
Faye Webster performs Saturday and Sunday at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
(Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)
Faye Webster The Atlanta-based singer-songwriter, backed by the 40-piece Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Wilkins, performs her indie-folk, alt-country and jazz R&B-infused songs. 8 p.m. Saturday; 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
SUNDAY Written On Heaven A musical portrait of Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru, an Ethiopian nun and composer who died in 2023, featuring performances by pianists Thomas Feng and Gloria Cheng. 8 p.m. Sunday and Monday. Shatto Chapel at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, 540 S. Commonwealth Ave. mondayeveningconcerts.org
MONDAY
Actor Jeff Goldblum.
(Scott A Garfitt / AP)
An Evening with Jeff Goldblum A conversation with the popular actor, musician and raconteur is followed by a 4K screening of Robert Altman’s 1976 country and gospel music epic “Nashville.” 7 p.m. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org
TUESDAY Moulin Rouge! The Musical This Tony-winning jukebox spectacle inspired by the 2001 Baz Luhrmann movie, adapted for the stage by John Logan featuring anachronistic pop hits Elton John, Beyoncé, Madonna, Rihanna, Katy Perry and more, focuses on the star-crossed romance between a songwriter from a Ohio and the star of the titular nightclub. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, through Nov. 16. Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd. broadwayinhollywood.com
WEDNESDAY Listening by Moonrise This seasonal series returns for an evening of music, culture and community with performances by Azucar LA, Juan Gabriel impersonator Marco Ortiz and King Dance. 6:30-9 p.m. Wednesday. Los Candiles Night Club, 2100 Cypress Ave., Glassell Park. clockshop.org
Mariology The West Coast premiere of this collaboration between playwright Nancy Keystone and Critical Mass Performance Group explores all things Virgin Mary in a fifth-grade classroom that erupts into fantasy and rebellion. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, through Dec. 7 (check days and times). Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N. Mentor Ave. bostoncourtpasadena.org
THURSDAY Marilyn Minter A solo exhibition of the artist’s work features paintings from four separate but related bodies of work: large-scale portraits (including Nick Cave, Jane Fonda, Jeff Koons and Cindy Sherman), the “Odalisque” and “After Guston” series, and a selection of Minter’s signature magnified mouths. Opening, 6-8 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday, through Dec. 20. Regen Projects, 6750 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. regenprojects.com
Music Restored Violinist Adam Millstein and pianist Dominic Cheli perform works by Martinů, Kaprálová, Smetana and Schulhoff. 7 p.m. Colburn School, Thayer Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. colburnschool.edu
New Original Works (NOW) REDCAT’s annual festival of experimental performance kicks off with a program of works by Maylee Todd, Jacob Wolff, Diana Wyenn and Ammunition Theatre Company. NOW 2025 continues with additional programming Nov. 13-15 and Nov. 20-22. 8 p.m Thursday-Saturday. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., downtown L.A. redcat.org
Culture news and the SoCal scene
Alan Edmunds, a psychologist, is the librettist and writer of “Perfect World,” a musical that tells the story of literary child prodigy Barbara Follet, at the El Portal Theatre.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
A ‘Perfect’ mystery The little-known story of a child literary prodigy named Barbara Follett — who published her first novel at 12 and disappeared without a trace at 25 — is the subject of a world-premiere musical, “Perfect World,” at El Portal Theatre. I sat down with librettist and co-lyricist Alan Edmunds to talk about his interest in Follett’s story, and how a deep dive into her archives at Columbia University led him to believe it would be a good candidate for the stage.
Pasadena Playhouse classes ramp up A bustling theater school is rising on the century-old campus of the Pasadena Playhouse. More than 400 students per semester are now participating in 14 classes tailored for kids as young as 4 years old, as well as adults in their 80s and everyone in-between. “Education is as core to us as the shows on stage,” producing artistic director Danny Feldman told me in a recent interview.
LACMA unionizes Employees at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced earlier this week that they are forming a union, LACMA United, representing more than 300 workers from across all departments, including curators, educators, guest relations associates and others. The move comes just six months before the museum is scheduled to open its new $720-million David Geffen Galleries.
Suntory time for Dudamel Times classical music critic Mark Swed flew to Tokyo to watch Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic perform two concerts of works by John Adams, Stravinsky and Mahler in Suntory Hall. The stop was part of an Asian tour that also includes Seoul and Taipei.
Manuel Oliver is photographed at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City on Tuesday, September 2, 2025. Oliver lost his son Joaquin “Guac” Oliver in the Parkland shooting. Manuel Oliver is now bringing his love of his son and his gun-reform activism to the stage in a one-man show called “Guac.”
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
A father grieves Times theater critic Charles McNulty caught a performance of “Guac” at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Manuel Oliver’s powerful one-man show examines the death — and celebrates the life — of his son, 17-year-old Joaquín Oliver, who was one of 17 people killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. “The production, written and performed by Oliver, turns a parent’s grief into a theatrical work of activism,” writes McNulty.
Theater hot spot If you know, you know — that’s the verdict on tiny New Theater Hollywood, which has lately taken on an outsize presence on formerly sleepy Theatre Row. “Opening post-pandemic, at a time of rising costs, dwindling audiences and little financial aid, New Theater Hollywood feels like an anomaly. It’s an intricate support system for practitioners to hone their craft in a space dedicated to original theatrical work,” writes Times contributor Emma Madden.
The girl is still having fun A new musical adaptation of the 1988 film “Working Girl” is premiering at La Jolla Playhouse with score by ‘80s pop icon Cyndi Lauper. Ashley Lee has the scoop.
Wine meets art The Donum Estate is home to 60 monumental sculptures by artists including Jaume Plensa, Louise Bourgeois, Ai Weiwei, Yayoi Kusama, Keith Haring, Doug Aitken, Robert Indiana and Anselm Kiefer, making it quite possibly “the largest private sculpture collection of any winery in the world,” writes Times contributor Sam Lubell in a story about the unique vineyard in California’s Carneros wine region.
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La Jolla, launchpad of musicals La Jolla Playhouse announced its 2026/2027 season, featuring three world-premiere musicals: The Playhouse-commissioned “The Family Album” (book by Sam Chanse and music and lyrics by MILCK, a.k.a. Connie Lim); “GRIM” (book by Joey Orton and Brad Silnutzer, music and lyrics by Petro AP, Scott Hoying, Joey Orton and Brad Silnutzer): and David Henry Hwang’s “Particle Fever,” with music and lyrics by Bear McCreary and Zoe Sarnak, directed by Tony Award nominee Leigh Silverman.
D.C. arts purge continues The White House fired all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts earlier this week, according to an exclusive in the Washington Post. That independent federal agency would have reviewed a number of President Trump’s construction projects, “including his planned triumphal arch and White House ballroom.”
Nobel laureate stripped of visa The first African writer to win the Nobel Prize for literature has been stripped of his U.S. visa by the Trump administration. The Nigerian author and playwright, Wole Soyinka, received notice of the decision from a U.S. consulate in Lagos on Oct. 23, calling it a “rather curious love letter.”
— Jessica Gelt
And last but not least
Happy Halloween! Looking for something truly scary to watch? Try Game 6 of the World Series, which takes place in Toronto tonight.
A manhunt for those responsible for an audacious heist of priceless crown jewels from Paris’ world-famous Louvre museum took a step forward after authorities made five additional arrests, with one of the suspects allegedly a match for DNA traces recovered from the scene. File photo by Mohammed Badra/EPA
Oct. 30 (UPI) — Police in France arrested five new suspects over alleged involvement in theft of priceless French crown jewels from the Louvre in the French capital, Paris’ chief prosecutor said.
The office of Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the men were detained in and around Paris on Wednesday night but that the jewels, which some estimates have valued at more than $100 million, were not recovered.
The development came 10 days after four suspects were filmed on CCTV carrying out the heist in broad daylight using a lift-ladder mounted on the back of a stolen truck to break into the museum’s Apollon Gallery, before disappearing into the back streets on the back of getaway motorcycles.
Beccuau said that DNA from one of those arrested could be a match to traces DNA left behind at the scene and that the suspect was throught to be part of the gang that carried out the theft.
“He’s one we had in our sights,” she said, adding that the others “can give us information about how the theft was carried out.”
Police have four days to charge the five before they have to release them.
Two others suspected of using power tools to gain entry — both men in their 30s with police records — were arrested Saturday, one as he was boarding a flight to Algeria, but investigators now believe the gang extends beyond those detained thus far.
Among the riches taken were an emerald and diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave to his second wife, Marie Louise, a diadem set with nearly 2,000 diamonds and more than 200 pearls that belonged to Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugenie and six other priceless pieces dating back to the early 1800s.
However, Eugenie’s diamond and emerald-covered crown was left behind after the gang dropped it onto the road in their haste to escape.
The gang, posing as maintenance workers, ascended to a second-floor balcony adjacent to the River Seine, smashed a window and used disc cutters to break into glass display cases housing the jewels.
The Louvre was shut following the robbery, which French Culture Minister Rachida Dati said was an attack on France, and nine of its 28 galleries, including the Apollon, remained closed on Thursday, according to the Louvre website.
The Louvre has since moved some of its most valuable exhibits, including precious jewels, to the Bank of France, a short distance away, to be stored in its main underground vault, 85 feet below rue Croix des Petits Champs.
As the number of arrests climbs to seven, none of the priceless Napoleonic-era jewellery has been recovered.
Published On 30 Oct 202530 Oct 2025
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Paris police have arrested five new suspects in the Louvre crown jewel heist, the Paris prosecutor has confirmed, a day after prosecutors said two other suspects had “partially” admitted to charges of theft and conspiracy.
The group includes one “main” suspect, according to Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau, the AFP news agency reported on Thursday. Quoting judiciary sources, radio station RTL said the arrests unfolded simultaneously throughout the Paris area late on Wednesday evening.
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“We had him in our sights,” Beccuau said of the prime suspect.
Details of the five Thursday arrests, including the suspects’ identities, were not immediately available.
On the morning of October 19, as visitors roamed the halls of the world’s most-visited museum, a group of intruders broke into the Apollo Gallery through an upstairs window and snatched eight pieces of priceless jewellery in a four-minute heist that has reverberated through the art world.
The stolen jewels, which have not been recovered, included 19th-century tiaras, necklaces, earrings and a brooch belonging to the wives of French Emperor Napoleon I and Napoleon III.
Since then, investigators have raced to locate the thieves, initially believed to include at least four people.
On Wednesday, Beccuau said two suspects would be brought before magistrates to be charged with organised theft, which carries a 15-year prison sentence, and criminal conspiracy, punishable by 10 years.
The duo – a 34-year-old Algerian national and a 39-year-old who were arrested in the northern Paris suburb of Aubervilliers on Saturday – had “partially admitt[ed] to the charges”, Beccuau told a news conference.
A tiara adorned with pearls worn by French Empress Eugenie, which was among the items stolen by thieves during a heist at Paris’s Louvre Museum on October 19, 2025 [Louvre Museum/Handout via Reuters]
Last week, the Louvre director told the French Senate the museum’s security operations “did not detect the arrival of the thieves soon enough”.
The Louvre curator has estimated the jewels amount to about 88 million euros ($102m) in value.
“Today we are experiencing a terrible failure at the Louvre, which I take my share of responsibility in,” the director said, adding that she submitted her resignation to the culture minister, who turned it down.
PARIS — Two suspects in the Louvre jewel heist on Wednesday were handed preliminary charges of criminal conspiracy and theft committed by an organized gang, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. The prosecutor said they admitted their involvement.
Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said at a news conference that the two are believed to be the men who forced their way into the world’s most visited museum Oct. 19, and that at least two other accomplices are at large. The jewels remain missing.
The two were given preliminary charges and ordered held in custody pending further investigation, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
They have “partially” admitted their participation in the robbery, Beccuau said. She declined to provide details about the suspects’ statements to investigators because accomplices were still being sought.
It took thieves less than eight minutes to steal the jewels valued at $102 million on Oct. 19, shocking the world. The robbers forced open a window, cut into cases with power tools and fled with eight pieces of the French crown jewels.
Suspects’ DNA was found
The two men arrested on Saturday night “are suspected of being the ones who broke into the Apollo Gallery to steal the jewels,” Beccuau said.
One is a 34-year-old Algerian national who has been living in France since 2010, Beccuau said. He was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport as he was about to fly to Algeria with no return ticket. He was living in a suburb north of Paris, Aubervilliers, and was known to police mostly for road traffic offenses. His DNA was found on one of the scooters used by robbers to leave the scene, she said.
The other suspect, 39, was arrested at his home in Aubervilliers. “There is no evidence to suggest that he was about to leave the country,” Beccuau said. The man was known to police for several thefts, and his DNA was found on one of the glass cases where the jewels were displayed and on items the thieves left behind, she added.
Video surveillance cameras showed there were at least four criminals involved, Beccuau said.
The four suspected robbers arrived onboard a truck equipped with a freight lift that two of them used to climb up to the museum’s window. The four left on two motor scooters along the Seine River toward eastern Paris, where they had some other vehicles parked, she said.
Beccuau said nothing suggests that the robbers had any accomplices within the museum’s staff.
The jewels are still missing
The jewels have not been recovered, Beccuau said.
“These jewels are now, of course, unsellable … Anyone who buys them would be guilty of concealment of stolen goods,” she warned. “There’s still time to give them back.”
Earlier Wednesday, French police acknowledged major gaps in the Louvre’s defenses — turning the dazzling daylight theft into a national reckoning over how France protects its treasures.
Paris Police Chief Patrice Faure told Senate lawmakers that aging systems and slow-moving fixes left weak seams in the museum.
“A technological step has not been taken,” he said, noting that parts of the video network are still analog, producing lower-quality images that are slow to share in real time.
A long-promised revamp — a $93-million project requiring roughly 37 miles of new cabling — “will not be finished before 2029-2030,” he said.
Faure also disclosed that the Louvre’s authorization to operate its security cameras quietly expired in July and wasn’t renewed — a paperwork lapse that some see as a symbol of broader negligence.
The police chief said officers “arrived extremely fast” after the theft, but added the lag in response occurred earlier in the chain — from first detection, to museum security, to the emergency line, to police command.
Faure and his team said the first alert to police came not from the Louvre’s alarms but from a cyclist outside who dialed the emergency line after seeing helmeted men with a basket lift.
Faure urged lawmakers to authorize tools currently off-limits: AI-based anomaly detection and object tracking (not facial recognition) to flag suspicious movements and follow scooters or gear across city cameras in real time.
Former bank robber David Desclos has told the AP the theft was textbook and vulnerabilities were glaringly obvious in the layout of the gallery.
Museum and culture officials under pressure
Culture Minister Rachida Dati, under pressure, has refused the Louvre director’s resignation and insisted that alarms worked, while acknowledging “security gaps did exist.”
The museum was already under strain. In June, the Louvre shut in a spontaneous staff strike — including security agents — over unmanageable crowds, chronic understaffing and “untenable” conditions. Unions say mass tourism and construction pinch points create blind spots, a vulnerability underscored by the thieves who rolled a basket lift to the Seine-facing façade.
Faure said police will now track surveillance-permit deadlines across institutions to prevent repeats of the July lapse. But he stressed the larger fix is disruptive and slow: ripping out and rebuilding core systems while the palace stays open, and updating the law so police can act on suspicious movement in real time.
Experts fear that the stolen pieces may already be broken down and stones recut to erase their past.
Adamson and Corbet write for the Associated Press.
The suspects face charges for theft committed by an organised gang and criminal conspiracy, prosecutor says.
Two men arrested over a jewel heist at France’s Louvre Museum are to be charged with theft and criminal conspiracy after “partially admitting to the charges”, Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau has said.
The suspects were to be brought before magistrates with a view to “charging them with organised theft, which carries a 15-year prison sentence”, and criminal conspiracy, punishable by 10 years, Beccuau told a press conference on Wednesday. The jewellery stolen on October 19 has “not yet been recovered”, Beccuau said.
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Two suspects in the Louvre jewel heist have “partially” admitted their participation and are believed to be the men who forced their way into the world’s most visited museum, a Paris prosecutor said.
Beccuau said that the two suspects face preliminary charges of theft committed by an organised gang and criminal conspiracy, and are expected to be held in provisional detention. She did not give details about their comments.
It took thieves less than eight minutes to steal the jewels valued at 88 million euros ($102m), shocking the world. The thieves forced open a window, cut into cases with power tools, and fled with eight pieces of the French crown jewels.
One suspect is a 34-year-old Algerian national who has been living in France since 2010, Beccuau said. He was arrested Saturday night at Charles de Gaulle Airport as he was about to fly to Algeria with no return ticket. He was living in Paris’s northern suburb of Aubervilliers and was known to police mostly for road traffic offences, Beccuau said.
The other suspect, 39, was arrested Saturday night at his home, also in Aubervilliers.
“There is no evidence to suggest that he was about to leave the country,” Beccuau said. The man was known to police for several thefts, and his DNA was found on one of the glass cases where the jewels were displayed and on items the thieves left behind, she added.
Prosecutors had faced a late Wednesday deadline to charge the suspects, release them or seek a judge’s extension.
Jewels not yet recovered
The jewels have not been recovered, Beccuau said.
“These jewels are now, of course, unsellable … Anyone who buys them would be guilty of concealment of stolen goods,” she warned. “It’s still time to give them back.”
Earlier Wednesday, French police acknowledged major gaps in the Louvre’s defences – turning the dazzling daylight theft into a national reckoning over how France protects its treasures.
Paris Police Chief Patrice Faure told Senate lawmakers that ageing systems and slow-moving fixes left weak seams in the museum.
“A technological step has not been taken,” he said, noting that parts of the video network are still analog, producing lower-quality images that are slow to share in real time.
A long-promised revamp “will not be finished before 2029–2030”, he said.
Faure also disclosed that the Louvre’s authorisation to operate its security cameras quietly expired in July and wasn’t renewed – a paperwork lapse that some see as a symbol of broader negligence.
The police chief said officers “arrived extremely fast” after the theft, but added the lag in response occurred earlier in the chain – from first detection, to museum security, to the emergency line, to police command.
Faure and his team said the first alert to police came not from the Louvre’s alarms, but from a cyclist outside who dialed the emergency line after seeing helmeted men with a basket lift.
Within 24 hours of the Louvre heist, a museum in eastern France reported the theft of gold and silver coins after finding a smashed display case.
Last month, thieves broke into Paris’s Natural History Museum and stole gold nuggets worth more than $1.5m. A Chinese woman has been detained and charged in relation to the theft.
Oct. 26 (UPI) — French prosecutors on Sunday announced that arrests had been made in connection with the brazen daylight heist of historic jewels worth more than $100 million from the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Laure Beccuau, the Paris public prosecutor, said in a statement that the office’s anti-gang unit had made the arrests Saturday evening, but did not disclose precisely how many arrests had been made. It previously had been reported that at least four people were believed to have been involved in the heist last Sunday.
Beccuau revealed that one of the men was preparing to flee the country from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport when he was arrested.
The arrests had first been reported by the French newspaper Le Parisien, citing anonymous sources, before the news was confirmed by Beccuau. The prosecutor lamented that the leak that arrests had been made before authorities were ready to disclose the news.
“I deeply regret the hasty disclosure of this information by informed individuals, without consideration for the investigation,” she said in her statement.
“This revelation can only hinder the investigative efforts of the hundred or so investigators mobilized in the search for both the stolen jewelry and the perpetrators. It is too early to provide any further details.”
Beccuau said that she would provide further information to the public at the end of this phase of police custody.
A representative for the Louvre confirmed to UPI last week that several people broke in through a window in the Galerie d’Apollon, which houses many of France’s royal jewels, around 9:30 a.m. local time after the museum had already opened its doors to the public.
The thieves had posed as workers in yellow vests and used a hoist truck to break into a second-floor window of the Galerie d’Apollon and cut through the glass display cases to snatch the jewels before dashing away on motorcycles along the A6 motorway.
The theft set off alarms on the gallery’s exterior window and display cases, and museum workers present in the gallery during the theft quickly notified police, but the thieves escaped with the jewels in less than seven minutes.
Interpol later added the jewels to its Stolen Works of Art database, an international registry of cultural property stolen worldwide to aid in their recovery, the art news publication Urgent Matter reported.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez praised investigators for working tirelessly to find the men who stole the jewels.
“The investigations must continue while respecting the confidentiality of the inquiry under the authority of the specialized interregional jurisdiction of Parquet de Paris,” he said.
The heist has heightened scrutiny of security flaws faced by French institutions.
And French authorities announced that a Chinese woman had been charged in connection with the September theft of gold nuggets from the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris.
French authorities have detained several men in connection to the recent theft of precious jewellery from the world-renowned Louvre museum in Paris, the Paris prosecutor has said.
French media reported that one of the suspects was apprehended around 10 pm (20:00 GMT) on Saturday at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport as he was about to board a plane abroad, French media Le Parisien and Paris Match reported on Sunday, and the second was arrested not long after in the Paris region, according to Le Parisien.
The Louvre Museum in the French capital closed one week ago after a group of intruders successfully stole eight pieces of priceless jewellery in a quick-hit four-minute heist in broad daylight that rocked the world’s most-visited museum and was followed raptly around the globe.
The robbers had climbed the extendable ladder of a movers’ truck and cut into a first-floor gallery.
They dropped a crown as they fled down the ladder and onto scooters, but managed to steal eight other pieces, include an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon Bonaparte gave his wife, Empress Marie-Louise.
Officials said the jewels were worth an estimated $102 million but held incalculable cultural value.
An intensive manhunt for the thieves has been ongoing, involving dozens of investigators.
The brazen theft has made headlines across the world and sparked a debate in France about the security of cultural institutions.
Police initially cordoned off the museum – famously home to Leonardo da Vinci’s painting Mona Lisa – with tape and as armed soldiers patrolled its iconic glass pyramid entrance.
PARIS — The Louvre remained closed Monday, a day after historic jewels were stolen from the world’s most-visited museum in a daring daylight heist that prompted authorities to reassess security measures at cultural sites across France.
The museum’s staff asked dozens of visitors who were queuing in front of the glass pyramid entrance to leave. In a message posted on social media, the Louvre said visitors who have booked tickets will be refunded. It did not provide additional details.
On Sunday, thieves rode a basket lift up the Louvre’s facade, forced a window, smashed display cases and fled with priceless Napoleonic jewels, officials said. The theft occurred about 30 minutes after the museum opened, with visitors already inside, and was among the highest-profile museum thefts in living memory.
It unfolded just 270 yards from the Mona Lisa, in what Culture Minister Rachida Dati described as a professional operation that lasted just a few minutes.
French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin acknowledged security failures on Monday.
“One can wonder about the fact that, for example, the windows hadn’t been secured, about the fact that a basket lift was on a public road,” he said on France Inter radio. “Having (previously) been interior minister, I know that we cannot completely secure all places, but what is certain is that we have failed.”
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez ordered prefects across France to immediately reassess security measures protecting museums and other cultural sites and enhance them if needed.
Culture Minister Rachida Dati said investigators are working on evidence found at the scene.
“We did find motorcycles and they have a license plate,” Dati said on news broadcaster CNews. “I also want to pay tribute to the security officers who prevented the basket lift from being set on fire. One of the criminals tried to set it on fire, but they forced him to flee. This allowed us to recover evidence at the scene.”
Officials said the heist lasted less than eight minutes in total, including less than four minutes inside the Louvre. “They went straight to the display windows, they knew exactly what they wanted. They were very efficient.” Dati said.
Dati stressed that a decade-long “Louvre New Renaissance” plan that was launched earlier this year includes security improvements.
“When the Louvre Museum was designed, it was not meant to accommodate 10 million visitors,” she said.
The $760-million plan is intended to modernize infrastructure, ease crowding and give the Mona Lisa a dedicated gallery by 2031.
Sunday’s theft focused on the gilded Apollo Gallery, where the Crown Diamonds are displayed. Alarms brought Louvre agents to the room, forcing the intruders to bolt, but the robbery was already over.
A worker in the Louvre filmed a person in the Apollo Gallery on Sunday morning wearing a yellow jacket and standing by a glass encasing, according to video viewed and verified by BFM television. It is unclear whether the person is one of the suspects.
Eight objects were taken, according to officials: a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a matching set linked to 19th-century French queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense; an emerald necklace and earrings from the matching set of Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife; a reliquary brooch; and Empress Eugénie’s diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch, a prized 19th-century imperial ensemble.
One object, the emerald-set imperial crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie, containing more than 1,300 diamonds, was later found outside the museum, French authorities said.
The Louvre Museum in the French capital has closed for “exceptional reasons” after a group of intruders successfully stole eight pieces of priceless jewellery in a quick-hit heist that has rocked the world’s most-visited museum.
A manhunt for the thieves was under way in Paris on Sunday as police cordoned off the museum – famously home to Leonardo da Vinci’s painting Mona Lisa – with tape and as armed soldiers patrolled its iconic glass pyramid entrance.
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French government and museum officials said several intruders entered the Galerie d’Apollon (Apollo’s Gallery) through a window shortly after the museum opened, relying on a lift used to hoist furniture into buildings.
Within just four minutes, the thieves stole away on motorcycles laden with eight items dating back to the Napoleonic era, dropping a ninth on their way out.
French President Emmanuel Macron took to social media to denounce the heist as an “attack on a heritage that we cherish”.
“The perpetrators will be brought to justice,” he added. “Everything is being done, everywhere, to achieve this, under the leadership of the Paris prosecutor’s office.”
Here’s what we know about the heist, which arrives as the Louvre faces questions over large crowds and overworked staff.
What happened?
Around 9:30am local time (07:30 GMT) on Sunday, as tourists already roamed the halls of the Louvre, the thieves zeroed in on Apollo’s Gallery – a gold-gilded, lavishly painted hall commissioned by King Louis XIV that houses the French crown jewels.
Describing the incident as a “major robbery”, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the thieves used a basket lift to reach the museum’s windows, entered the gallery and escaped via motorbike with “jewels of inestimable value”.
The Louvre evacuated all visitors and posted a notice online that the museum would remain closed throughout the day under “exceptional” circumstances.
Police meanwhile sealed the gates, cleared courtyards and even closed off nearby streets along the Seine River as authorities kicked off an investigation.
It was “crazy”, one American tourist, Talia Ocampo, told the AFP news agency – “like a Hollywood movie”.
No injuries were reported, but the thieves – believed to number four people – remained at large as of Sunday evening.
The crown of the Empress Eugénie de Montijo is displayed at Apollo’s Gallery at the Louvre Museum in Paris in 2020. Thieves attempted to steal the piece on Sunday [File: Stephane de Sakutin/AFP]
What was stolen during the heist?
Thieves successfully removed eight items from two high-security display cases, the Ministry of Culture confirmed late on Sunday. These include pieces that belonged to Empress Marie-Louise, the wife of French Emperor Napoleon I, and others that belonged to Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III.
These are the items that were stolen:
Tiara from the jewellery set of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense
Necklace from the same duo’s sapphire jewellery set
A single earring from the sapphire jewellery set
Emerald necklace from the Marie-Louise set
Pair of emerald earrings from the Marie-Louise set
Brooch known as the “reliquary” brooch
Tiara of Empress Eugenie
Another large brooch of Empress Eugenie
The crown of Empress Eugenie was recovered outside the walls of the museum, the ministry said, where it was dropped by the thieves as they fled. The crown contains 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, according to the Louvre.
Apollo’s Gallery is home to a range of other priceless gems, including three historical diamonds – the Regent, the Sancy and the Hortensia – and “the magnificent hardstone vessel collection of the kings of France”, according to the museum’s website.
Anthony Amore, an art theft expert and co-author of the book Stealing Rembrandts: The Untold Stories of Notorious Art Heists, told Al Jazeera the items contained in the collection were priceless “not just in terms of dollars, but in terms of cultural patrimony”.
“It’s not like stealing a masterpiece where instantly news media … would publicise this image,” Amore said. “You might see pieces like this broken up and individual jewels sold that are indistinguishable to members of the public.”
This photograph shows a furniture elevator used by robbers to enter the Louvre Museum, on Quai Francois Mitterrand, in Paris, France on October 19, 2025 [Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP]
How did the thieves do it?
The thieves used a combination of power tools, motorcycles and efficiency to pull off the minutes-long heist, authorities said.
The group drew up on a scooter armed with angle grinders, one police source told AFP. They used the hoist to access the gallery from the outside, cutting windowpanes with a disc cutter.
One witness, who told the TF1 news outlet that he was riding his bicycle nearby at the time, said he saw two men “get on the hoist, break the window and enter”, adding that the entire operation “took 30 seconds”.
Le Parisien reported that the thieves entered the museum – located inside a former palace – via the facade facing the Seine, where construction work is ongoing. Two were dressed as construction workers in yellow safety vests, the newspaper said.
Culture Minister Rachida Dati said authorities arrived “a couple of minutes after we received information of this robbery”.
“To be completely honest, this operation lasted almost four minutes – it was very quick,” she said.
Footage showed the hoist braced to the Seine-facing facade and leading up to a balcony window, which observers said was the thieves’ entry point before it was removed Sunday.
What happens now?
With the thieves still at large, forensic teams have descended upon the Louvre and surrounding streets to gather evidence and review CCTV footage from the Denon wing, where Apollo’s Gallery is located, and the Seine riverfront.
Authorities also planned to interview staff who were working when the museum opened on Sunday, they said.
The Interior Ministry said it was compiling a detailed list of the stolen items, but added that “beyond their market value, these items have priceless heritage and historical value”.
Dati, the culture minister, suggested the thieves were “professionals”.
“Organised crime today targets objects of art, and museums have of course become targets,” she said.
The painting ‘La Joconde’ (the Mona Lisa) by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci at the Louvre Museum in Paris on January 28, 2025 [File: Bertrand Guay/AFP]
Have similar heists happened in the past?
The Louvre’s most famous heist occurred in 1911, when the Mona Lisa portrait disappeared from its frame. It was recovered two years later, but decades afterward, in 1956, a visitor threw a stone at the world-famous painting – chipping paint near the subject’s left elbow and prompting the portrait to be moved behind bulletproof glass.
In recent years, the museum has struggled with growing crowds, which totalled 8.7 million in 2024, and frustrated staff who say they are stretched too thin.
In June, the museum delayed opening due to a staff walkout over chronic understaffing.
One union source, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP that the equivalent of 200 positions had been cut at the museum over the past 15 years, out of a total workforce of nearly 2,000.
The fact that Sunday’s theft took place in broad daylight inspired a wave of consternation from French citizens and politicians.
“It’s just unbelievable that a museum this famous can have such obvious security gaps,” Magali Cunel, a French teacher from near Lyon, told the Associated Press news agency.
‘An embarrassment’: BBC reports at the scene of Louvre robbery
The Louvre Museum in Paris has been forced to close while police investigate a brazen heist which targeted France’s priceless crown jewels.
Thieves wielding power tools broke into the world’s most visited museum in broad daylight, before escaping on scooters with eight “priceless” items of jewellery.
Here is what we know about the crime which has stunned France.
Getty Images
The robbers reached a first-floor window and cut through glass panes to gain access to the museum’s gilded Galerie d’Apollon
How did the theft unfold?
The theft occurred on Sunday between 09:30 and 09:40 local time, shortly after the museum opened to visitors.
Four thieves used a vehicle-mounted mechanical lift to gain access to the Galerie d’Apollon (Gallery of Apollo) via a balcony close to the River Seine.
Pictures from the scene showed a vehicle-mounted ladder leading up to a first-floor window.
Two of the thieves cut through glass panes with a battery-powered disc cutter and entered the museum.
They then threatened the guards, who evacuated the premises, and stole items from two glass display cases.
The museum’s alarms sounded correctly and museum staff followed protocol by contacting security forces and protecting visitors, the culture ministry said in a statement.
The gang had tried to set fire to their vehicle outside but were prevented by the intervention of a museum staff-member, it added.
Culture Minister Rachida Dati told French news outlet TF1 that footage of the theft showed the masked robbers entering “calmly” and smashing display cases containing the jewels.
No one was injured in the incident, with Dati saying there was “no violence, very professional”.
She described the thieves as seemingly being “experienced” with a well-prepared plan to flee on two scooters.
Getty Images
The thieves approached the building from the River Seine bankside
Investigators are looking for four suspects and are studying CCTV footage from the escape route.
The whole raid happened “very, very fast”, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told France Inter radio, and was over in a handful of minutes.
One witness described scenes of “total panic” as the museum was evacuated. Later images showed entrances closed off with metal gates.
Police and staff ushered confused crowds away from the Louvre
What was stolen
According to the authorities, eight items were taken, including diadems, necklaces, ear-rings and brooches. All are from the 19th century, and once belonged to French royalty.
France’s ministry of culture said the stolen items were:
a tiara and brooch belonging to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III
an emerald necklace and a pair of emerald earrings from Empress Marie Louise
a tiara, necklace and single earring from the sapphire set that belonged to Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense
a brooch known as the “reliquary brooch”
Between them, these pieces are adorned with thousands of diamonds and other precious gemstones.
Two more items, including Empress Eugénie’s crown, were found near the scene, apparently having been dropped during the escape. The authorities are examining them for damage.
Nuñez described the stolen jewels “priceless” and “of immeasurable heritage value”.
Bloomberg via Getty Images
Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
The stolen items include Empress Eugénie’s brooch, which is encrusted with more than 2,000 diamonds.
Also stolen was this emerald necklace, which was once owned by Empress Marie Louise
Louvre crowds evacuate after museum robbery
Have similar thefts happened before?
In 1911, an Italian museum employee was able to make off with the Mona Lisa under his coat after lifting the painting – which was then little-known to the public – straight off the wall of a quiet gallery.
It was recovered after two years and the culprit later said he was motivated by the belief the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece belonged in Italy.
Fewer chances are taken with the Mona Lisa these days: the painting, perhaps the most renowned in the museum’s collection, hangs in a high-security glass compartment.
In 1998, the Le Chemin de Sevres – a 19th century painting by Camille Corot – was stolen and has never been found. The incident prompted a massive overhaul of museum security.
There has been a recent spate of thefts targeting French museums.
Last month, thieves broke into the Adrien Dubouche Museum in Limoges and stole porcelain works reputedly worth €9.5m ($11m / £8.25m).
In November 2024, seven items of “great historic and heritage value” were stolen from the Cognacq-Jay Museum in the capital. Five were recovered a few days ago.
The same month, armed robbers raided the Hieron Museum in Burgundy, firing shots before escaping with millions of pounds worth of 20th century artworks.
Thieves broke into the Louvre museum in Paris on Sunday by using a crane to smash a window, stealing valuable jewelry from the area housing the French crown jewels before escaping on motorbikes. The French government highlighted concerns about security, noting a lack of investment in the museum, which had 8.7 million visitors in 2024.
The robbery occurred around 9:30 a.m. while the museum was open to the public. Culture Minister Rachida Dati stated that the thieves acted professionally, as the entire theft took only about four minutes. Footage showed they entered calmly, smashed display cases, and left without harming anyone. Dati mentioned that one stolen piece of jewelry was recovered outside the museum, believed to be the broken crown of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez indicated that three or four thieves used a crane positioned on a truck to access the museum and steal jewels of significant historical value. A specialized police unit has been assigned to investigate the incident. Despite the alarm, no injuries were reported, and the museum closed for the day due to “exceptional reasons. ” Earlier, Louvre officials had requested government assistance for renovations and improved security to protect its artworks from organized crime, highlighting a long-standing issue with securing major museums.
An extendable ladder used by thieves to access one of the upper floors of the museum is seen during the investigation at the southeast corner of the Louvre Museum on Quai Francois-Mitterrand, on the banks of the River Seine, after a robbery at the Louvre Museum in Paris on Sunday. Photo by Mohammed Badra/EPA
Oct. 19 (UPI) — A group of thieves broke into the Louvre Museum on Sunday morning and stole priceless jewels before fleeing on motorcycles, the famed institution confirmed to UPI.
A representative for the Louvre said that several people broke in through a window in the Apollo Gallery, which houses many of France’s royal jewels, around 9:30 a.m. local time after the museum had already opened its doors to the public.
Inside, the thieves stole jewelry from their display cases. French media later reported that they made off with seven jewels owned by Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife, Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais.
“An investigation has begun, and a detailed list of the stolen items is being compiled,” museum officials said in a statement. “Beyond their market value, these items have inestimable heritage and historical value.”
After the theft, the museum was evacuated “without incident” and no injuries were reported among the public, museum staff or law enforcement, the representative said.
The museum shared on social media that it would be closed Sunday for “exceptional reasons.”
“At the Louvre Museum this morning to commend the exemplary commitment of the staff mobilized following the theft,” Culture Minister Rachida Datishared on social media after visiting the site.
“Respect for their responsiveness and professionalism. Together with President Emmanuel Macron, we extend our sincere thanks to them.”
Dati told French TV channel TF1 on Sunday that one of the jewels was later found and that the entire heist lasted only four minutes. She called the thieves “professionals.”
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said Sunday that “everything is being done” to find the thieves.
“The mobilization of investigators will be total, under the authority of the Parquet de Paris,” Nuñez said. The Parquet de Paris is the public prosecution office in the French capital. “Attacking the Louvre is attacking our history and our heritage.”
The news comes just days after the Louvre announced that two 18th-century snuff boxes that were stolen during a violent armed robbery in 2024 while they were on loan to the Cognacq-Jay Museum have been found and returned.
In December 2021, Eric Benjamin Halem was riding high.
Beyond his day job as an LAPD officer, he was juggling several lucrative side hustles, business records and court filings show.
Private security. An app for aspiring actors trying to land auditions. And an exotic car rental company, Drive-LA, that was gaining a following among rappers, influencers and executives.
But Halem’s comfortable life soon began to unravel. He left his full-time position with the LAPD after coming under internal investigation, according to records submitted as part of a lawsuit. Earlier this year, state authorities charged him with insurance fraud.
Then, a few weeks ago, L.A. County prosecutors accused him of masterminding a home invasion robbery with a man with reputed ties to the Israeli underworld — part of what authorities say is a growing trend of criminals targeting victims for their cryptocurrency profits.
How Halem, 37, became embroiled with one of his alleged co-conspirators, Gaby (sometimes spelled “Gabby”) Ben, remains a mystery.
Ben, who has twice been convicted of fraud, was a close business associate of Moshe Matsri, or “Moshe the Religious,” whom authorities describe as an L.A. leader of the Israeli underground who had long operated in the San Fernando Valley and had ties to the Abergil crime syndicate, according to court filings.
In the early morning hours of Dec. 28, 2024, Halem, Ben and Mishael Mann, 20, made their way into an apartment building in Koreatown, LAPD Robbery-Homicide Det. Guillermo De La Riva wrote in a sworn declaration in favor of denying Halem’s bail.
Pierre Louis, 26, had arranged to meet up with the victim for a “digital currency transaction,” which was a ruse to allow the three other men to enter the building and wait for the victim to return, De La Riva wrote.
The men handcuffed the victim and a second person, De La Riva wrote, ordering them at gunpoint to transfer money from a cryptocurrency account and fleeing with $300,000 worth of cryptocurrency, cash and jewelry.
De La Riva said he believed that after Halem’s arrest, other alleged victims might come forward.
When LAPD detectives arrested Halem earlier this month, they obtained search warrants for the $2.1-million home he had recently moved into in Porter Ranch, a scenic neighborhood in the Santa Susana foothills. They also reportedly recovered at least one of his guns from the home of his former police partner.
Halem, who went by Ben professionally, has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and robbery and remains in Men’s Central Jail after a judge denied his application for bail. His attorney, George G. Mgdesyan, declined to comment, saying he hadn’t yet reviewed the evidence against his client.
Halem has also pleaded not guilty in the state insurance fraud case. Ben, 51, is jailed on a federal immigration hold in Florida.
Louis, Mann and another defendant, Luis Banuelos, have pleaded not guilty to felony charges. Their attorneys declined to comment.
As LAPD detectives investigated the kidnapping and robbery, they took a closer look at Halem’s side businesses, according to two department sources — including whether his startup funding came from organized crime and whether his companies were a front for money laundering. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
In recent years, business was taking off at Drive-LA, which boasted a fleet of rare luxury vehicles for rent, including a 2020 Bentley Continental GT and a Lamborghini Urus, and had nearly 60,000 Instagram followers. With glowing media coverage and venture capitalists opening their checkbooks, Halem planned to open a second location in Phoenix.
He was co-hosting a podcast for car enthusiasts, and former associates told The Times that a reality show based on his life was in the works. On social media, he cultivated the image of a carefree young entrepreneur, with photos of himself posing on the steps of a private jet, at a Formula 1 race and courtside with NBA superstars Dwight Howard and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Halem launched an app called kaypr in 2017 that matched aspiring actors “to available roles,” allowing them to audition remotely from anywhere in the world. For a security firm where he had a leadership role, he worked “music festivals, celebrity details, and large-scale events.” Among his clients was action film producer Randall Emmett, who has faced fraud claims and allegations of abuse toward women. Emmett has denied the allegations.
In a blog post, Halem described himself as a thrill seeker who has always chased “speed, precision, and a little bit of calculated chaos.”
According to an online biography, Halem grew up in Los Angeles and attended UC Riverside before joining the LAPD. He spent nearly half his 13 years on the force as a training officer and was qualified as a sharpshooter.
His last assignment was at West Valley Division, which patrols areas featured in crimes involving suspects with ties to Israeli organized crime, including the wealthy enclave of Encino. Several former colleagues who spoke with The Times described Halem as a solid if unremarkable officer.
In 2014, Halem was injured during an encounter with a suspect in the West Valley area who had holed up inside an apartment and pelted officers with objects. An LAPD review board found that Halem’s decision to fire a beanbag shotgun at the suspect was in line with department policy.
By the time he left the LAPD in 2022, Halem was pulling in $188,500 in salary and benefits, according to the Transparent California database.
And his other businesses were apparently far more lucrative than his day job. In an interview with Internal Affairs detectives investigating him for insurance fraud, Halem boasted that he was raking in more than $1 million in profit annually from Drive-LA, according to a department source who reviewed the Internal Affairs file and was not authorized to discuss the matter.
Halem was also targeted by numerous lawsuits, one of which cited a WhatsApp conversation in which an LAPD sergeant said that Halem’s “business smells dirty” and suggested that there were other LAPD officers who were “involved in his business dealings.”
“[If] there is any misconduct on their part they will be held accountable,” the sergeant wrote in the WhatsApp exchange, referring to the other officers.
It’s not clear whether the LAPD investigated whether other officers were involved. The department did eventually clear Halem of the insurance fraud allegations. But his alleged misdeeds had come to the attention of the state Department of Insurance, which charged both him and his brother, Jacob Halem, with misrepresenting details in a roughly $200,000 insurance claim related to a Bentley crash in January 2023. The case is pending.
After leaving his full-time LAPD job, Halem worked as an unpaid reserve officer. In March, he was stripped of his police powers after he was charged in the insurance fraud case.
Ben, who moved to the San Fernando Valley from Israel as a young adult, worked in real estate and was a partner at his late mother’s restaurant.
Federal prosecutors described him as a flashy high roller with an affinity for high-end watches. His Israeli mafia connections allowed him to launder money through Jewish-owned businesses across the Valley, prosecutors alleged in documents filed in the case.
Ben was deported after each of his fraud convictions, federal court records show. In one of the cases, prosecutors alleged that he orchestrated a so-called bust-out scheme, recruiting people to open bank accounts on his behalf in exchange for a small fee.
He and his brother, Amin Ben, were also accused of defrauding senior citizens by entering their homes disguised as HVAC repairmen and then photographing their driver’s licenses and bank statements.
Based on wiretaps described in a federal sworn affidavit, federal investigators believed the brothers could move freely in and out of the country, despite their legal troubles, because of Amin Ben’s connection to an official at the Israeli Consulate who was “able to facilitate and issue travel documents.” Prosecutors also alleged that the brothers were captured on a recording threatening to kill the Israel-based family of an LAPD detective investigating one of the federal cases.
The check-cashing business that Ben ran with Matsri, the alleged Israeli crime boss, in an Encino strip mall was a front for alleged fraud schemes, according to a declaration filed in court by an LAPD Major Crimes detective.
Investigators determined that the pair bought more than 230 airline tickets, worth more than $600,000, using phone credit card approval codes and then resold the tickets to local Israelis at discount rates, an FBI agent wrote in a sworn affidavit.
When they arrested Ben and Matsri in October 2010, authorities seized 16 high-end watches and a handgun from Ben’s home.
In 2015, Matsri was sentenced in a separate federal case to 32 years in prison for drug trafficking, money laundering and extortion.
Land records show that Ben was living in a glitzy mansion in the Hollywood Hills, where neighbors said they often saw him driving a black Rolls-Royce. The mansion’s owner sued him after he stopped paying rent for five months, eventually racking up a $150,000 tab, court records show.
Ben continued to live at the residence until moving out in March.
The feature film will tell an extraordinary true crime story
The creative team behind popular docuseries Don’t F*** With Cats have dropped their brand new title on Netflix about the ‘world’s greatest diamond heist’.
Stolen: Heist of the Century releases on the streaming platform from Friday (August 8). It is produced by the company RAW, not only known for the hit true crime series but also American Nightmare and The Tindler Swindler.
Their latest entry is said to tell the story of the ultimate true-life crime caper, the world’s greatest diamond heist. According to the synopsis provided by Netflix, the Antwerp detectives who cracked the case along with the alleged criminal mastermind are gathered for the first time to give a blow-by-blow account of what really happened.
The feature length documentary is said to reveal the secrets of ‘The Heist of the Century’. Unlike the previous limited series released, this will be a film coming in at around one hour and 35 minutes in length.
The detectives and those involved in the heist will reveal what really happened(Image: Netflix)
On the morning of February 17, 2003, detectives from Antwerp’s infamous Diamond Squad were called to investigate the brazen night-time robbery of an allegedly impregnable vault in the middle of the City of Diamonds.
It is estimated that between $100 million and half a billion dollars worth of diamonds were stolen. An ingenious gang of master thieves from Italy, known as The School of Turin were said to be behind the audacious heist.
Now, after more than 20 years, the world will finally learn how they pulled it off.
Sharing the same director as Don’t F*** With Cats, the new film is based on the book Flawless, which was written by Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell.
Fans were full of praise for Don’t F*** With Cats, with one person claiming it was ‘the best documentary ever made’. Another fan posted online saying: “A really excellent crime and investigation series based on true events, the only downside is that at first it feels a little dry and uninteresting, but if you can tolerate the beginning, this is a masterpiece series.”
Between $100 million and $500 million worth of diamonds were stolen(Image: Netflix)
Someone else stated: “Don’t F**k with Cats” is a gripping rollercoaster of a documentary that will leave you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.”
It means that Stolen: Heist of the Century has been set a high bar of expectations if it is to be as well received. Anticipation has been building for its release ever since Netflix shared the trailer online.
Replying to the teaser on its YouTube page, one user claimed it looked like a real life version of action movie Den of Thieves. Another said: “These guys pulled off something so wild, I thought it was straight out of Grand Theft Auto.”
Stolen: Heist of the Century is streaming on Netflix.
