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Many people have been arrested so far In the case of theft of jewelery in the famous Louvre Museum in Paris.
However, the grand jewels that once graced the royal houses of France are still missing.
In the days after the robbery, experts warned that the jewels – worth more than €88 million (£77.5 million) – could be melted or broken into parts. If this is done successfully, small pieces can go up for sale as part of new necklaces or earrings without attracting much attention, some say.
“You don’t even have to put them on the black market, you can just put them in a jewelry store,” said Erin Thompson, an art criminology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. new york,
“It could be sold down the street from the Louvre.”
Ms. Thompson and others said this has become increasingly common with stolen jewelry and metal items, and is one way thieves may try to cover their tracks.
The move will be significant, because “everyone and their sister” has seen photos of stolen artworks last week — so it will be incredibly difficult to find a market to sell them, said Christopher Marinello, a lawyer and founder of Art Recovery International.
French Prosecutor Laure Becuau made an appeal on Wednesday to whoever is in possession of the jewels.
He warned, “Certainly, these jewels are no longer sellable… Anyone who buys them will be guilty of concealing stolen goods.”
“There’s still time to give back to them.”
Making money from jewelry can be difficult
“By separating them, they will hide their thefts,” Mr. Marinello said, adding that these items could be even more “traceable” if they were taken out of France and moved to other countries through jewel cutters and stronger supply chains.
Nevertheless, such pieces are often sold for a fraction of the stolen value, partly because of their small size, but also because melting or breaking down high-profile items robs them of their historical value.
This is not a simple process.
Robert Wittman, former senior investigator for the FBI’s art crimes team, explained, “The real art in art robbery is not the theft, but the sale.”
Mr. Wittman, who has since started his own private practice, said that the people behind such robberies are usually “better criminals or thieves than businessmen.”
Unlike others, Mr. Wittmann doubts that thieves have successfully monetized the artworks stolen from the Louvre – including oneEmerald necklace and earrings, two tiaras, two brooches, a sapphire necklace and an earring Worn by 19th century royalty.
For example, gems can still be distinguished by their clarity, he said, and gold refined when the pieces were made hundreds of years ago is not as pure as what is typically in demand today.
“It doesn’t really make sense to destroy them because of what they are,” Mr. Wittman said, pointing out the risks of selling such high-profile stolen goods.
Scott Guginski, executive vice president of the Jewelers Security Alliance, a nonprofit trade association focused on preventing jewelry crime, also pays attention to the age and quality of artifact diamonds. He suspects that perhaps they have not been classified.
“It’s not something you can take on the open market. It’s not something that can be taken through an auction house,” said Mr. Guginski, who runs the New York Police Department’s organized theft squad.
Given the amount of preparation the thieves put into it, Mr. Guginsky believes they have a plan to sell the jewels, even if they decide to “sit” on the artifacts first and await suspicion.
“I can’t see them stealing it without knowing what they want to do,” he said. “There’s always someone willing to buy stolen jewelry. No matter what it is, someone will buy it.”
Sarah Youd, CEO and general counsel of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, says most jewelry businesses implement anti-money laundering programs and pay attention to red flags like unusual orders, repeat purchases and requests for confidentiality.
Still, he and others say the age of some jewels, if effectively broken down, may actually make them harder to track. For example, new gems sometimes have a laser inscription that can be evaluated in a laboratory.
But “as these are historical pieces, it is unlikely to have any recognizable features”.
Experts like Ms. Thompson say larger gems can be cut to the point of being unrecognizable. One challenge, he said, is finding people who have the skills to do it and who don’t ask too many questions — but it’s possible.
It is unknown whether the people behind the robbery had those contacts or were certain buyers. But it’s also important to note that “the people who actually enter museums are usually hired employees, and they are almost always the ones caught in these cases”, Ms. Thompson said.
Chances of recovery appear slim
He and others say museums have faced similar incidents of theft in recent years. Ms. Thompson noted that thefts from storage may go undetected for long: The British Museum in London, which has accused a former curator of stealing artifacts and selling them online, is still trying to recover some of the 2,000 objects stolen.
Ms. Thompson says some past thieves have demanded ransom for stolen artefacts altogether, or waited for a potential “no questions asked” reward from an insurance company – which in Europe can be equivalent to a deductible of about 10 percent for some insured objects. However, the jewels stolen from the Louvre were not privately insured.
Sometimes the government also offers a reward for information about a high-profile robbery that could lead to an investigation, although the French government has not yet publicized such an incentive. If that changes, or if promising clues emerge from evidence left at the Louvre, experts like Mr. Wittmann say it could increase the chances of recovering the artifacts.
Yet, as more time passes, others feel that luck in finding historical gems is fading.
“I think they are going to catch the criminals,” Mr. Marinello said.
“But I don’t think they’ll find them with the jewels.”