The suspects were presented to a Paris investigating judge with a view to their indictment. The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened a judicial investigation into theft by an organized armed gang and criminal associations with a view to preparing a crime.
Four days after the arrest of three men suspected of receiving stolen goods in a spectacular robbery at a Harry Winston jewelry store on Rue Montaigne in Paris, the Paris prosecutor’s office opened a judicial investigation and requested their imprisonment. All three were indicted on Monday, July 1, the prosecutor’s office said.
On May 18, three people forced their way into this luxury jewelry store with a two-wheeler. While one of the accomplices stood guard with a long weapon, around twenty pieces of jewelry worth 8 million euros were stolen by the criminals.
More than a month after this robbery, it was on June 24 that the investigation, entrusted to the Brigade for the Suppression of Banditry (BRB), took a turn.
A batch of jewelry in freezer bags
A tip reaches the investigators: a man named “Easy”, living in Paris, is looking to sell jewelry from the armed robbery of the jewelry store. The exploitation of the telephone then allows them to go back to “Easy”, a man born in Israel and aged 47.
Easy and two other men aged 34 and 33 were then located on June 27 in an apartment on Rue de Passy in the 16th arrondissement. In this apartment, investigators found a batch of jewelry packed in several freezer bags. 17 pieces worth more than 5,500,000 euros, likely to come from the spectacular robbery at Harry Winston.
Mission: Find a buyer interested in jewelry
The three men were then arrested. All are known to the police for theft, aggravated theft or drug-related offences.
Placed in police custody since Thursday, the man nicknamed Easy has, according to our information, simply admitted to having been sent to find a buyer interested in some jewelry, without knowing its origin.
The two other people in custody, who live in France, have remained silent. They are now suspected of having asked “Easy” to find a buyer for the jewelry.
Provisional detention requested
The total damage is estimated to date at more than 8 million euros for around twenty pieces in total. Not all the jewels have yet been found.
Contacted, the Paris prosecutor’s office explained that it had opened a judicial investigation today into the charges of receiving stolen goods by an organized armed gang and criminal associations with a view to preparing a crime. Their placement in provisional detention has been requested.
All were presented to a Parisian investigating judge on Monday, July 1. They were charged with receiving stolen goods for armed robbery by an organized gang and criminal conspiracy. They were placed in provisional detention on Monday, July 1, the prosecution said.
Matthias Tesson and Stéphane Sellami
