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spectacular robbery of jewelery louvre Many in Paris wondered how such a theft could happen in broad daylight. what can happen to things Which were stolen from the museum.
Within minutes, four thieves succeeded in entering through a first-floor window, breaking the secure glass display, and Take nine jewels of immense value,
Although the alarm had been raised and museum guards were nearby, the thieves managed to quickly escape using a motorcycle. They dropped one stolen item, a diamond and emerald-studded imperial tiara that had belonged to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III.
Their loot included jewelery from the French royal period – brooches, necklaces, earrings and a tiara. The French prosecutor’s office said the jewels were worth about 88 million euros (A$157 million), not including their historical value.
The speed and professionalism of the robbery suggests that it was a well-planned crime, carried out by highly skilled criminals. This shows that they are linked to organized criminal groups.
Several media outlets reported several small thefts from French museums in recent weeks, including gold nuggets from the Paris Museum of Natural History. There is no suggestion that these thefts were connected to louvre loot.
What could happen to the loot?
The jewelery stolen includes famous pieces which are easily recognisable. This would make them difficult, if not impossible, to sell on the black market, even to affluent collectors and buyers.
This problem is well known from other museum robberies – such as the theft of the Canadian “Big Maple Leaf” giant gold coin from Berlin’s Bode Museum in 2017 or the famous robbery of 13 masterpieces by Degas, Manet and Rembrandt from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990. Those pictures have never been recovered.
Instead, most experts believe that one of two scenarios is more likely.
In the first, the jewelery will be broken into smaller pieces. Diamonds and other gems can be extracted, exchanged, and then offered for sale. The silver and gold can be used to create other pieces or sold separately.
This scenario would make it easier to hide the origin of the pieces and sell them openly or online. However, the combined value will be significantly lower than leaving the pieces intact. Thus it is doubtful that thieves targeted specific jewelery items for this purpose.
Scenario two would involve the thieves, or more likely the masterminds behind them, trying to sell the pieces back to the Louvre or trying to extort money from the French government for their return.
This may be done through brokers or other intermediaries and may not happen for some time, until public and media attention subsides and the perpetrators feel safe enough to contact the museum or state authorities, directly or indirectly.
About the author
Andreas Schloenhardt is Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Queensland.
This article is republished from Conversation Under Creative Commons license. read the original article,
Given the historical importance of the pieces, along with the embarrassment caused by the robbery, the Louvre and the French government would be keen to return the pieces as quickly as possible and may be willing to negotiate, if only in secret.
However, much of this remains speculation. It has only been a few days since the robbery and many questions remain unanswered about the events, the criminals, and their motives.
And who could be behind this spectacular robbery FranceEveryone is guessing about the biggest museum.
Similarities with the Dresden museum robbery
The theft of the Louvre is reminiscent of the theft of the jewels in the Green Vault in the Zwinger Palace dresdenGermany, in 2019.
In this case, the criminals had closely monitored the museum’s security system for several days and were able to enter the building without being caught on camera. They entered through a window on the first floor and within a few minutes stole 21 pieces of jewelery from several displays.
Unlike the Paris robbery, the Dresden thieves entered at night and used brute force to damage the exhibits in order to take their loot.
A few years after the robbery, German authorities were able to identify and arrest the thieves involved in the robbery – all five were members of a notorious Berlin-based crime family.
The perpetrators have since been prosecuted and convicted and are serving long prison sentences. Most of the jewelery was recovered and returned – unchanged – to its famous home.
Hopefully the French authorities will soon be similarly successful.