Prosecutors in Bid to recover $7.8m from "Pebble Switch" Diamond Heist
November 08, 21
(IDEX Online) - Prosecutors in Britain have launched a legal battle to reclaim proceeds of the $7.8m "pebble swap" heist.
Lulu Lakatos aged 60, from Romania, was jailed in July for five-and-a-half-years for the sleight-of-hand switch at Boodles, in Mayfair, London.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is now attempting to recover money from the Russian mobsters believed to behind the 2016 raid, according to the Sunday People newspaper.
The seven gems that were stolen - among them a 20-ct heart-shaped diamond worth $3m - are believed to have been re-cut long ago. None has been recovered.
Three gang members, including Lakatos, have been jailed, but their accomplices remain at large.
Lakatos, posing as a gemologist called Anna, examined the gems then put them into her handbag. When staff challenged her, she immediately withdrew an identical zipped purse, containing pebbles instead of diamonds. The switch wasn't discovered until the following day.
Pic shows Lakatos, the pebbles, and some of the stolen diamonds