{"id":33945,"date":"2025-11-01T23:23:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T23:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/33945\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T23:23:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T23:23:20","slug":"two-new-suspects-handed-preliminary-charges-in-louvre-heist-case-nbc-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/33945\/","title":{"rendered":"Two new suspects handed preliminary charges in Louvre heist case \u2013 NBC Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Paris<\/a> prosecutor said Saturday two new suspects were handed preliminary charges for their alleged involvement in the crown jewels heist at the Louvre museum<\/a>, three days after they were arrested by police as part of the sweeping investigation.<\/p>\n

Laure Beccuau, the prosecutor, said a 37-year-old suspect was charged with theft by an organized gang and criminal conspiracy. He was known to authorities for previous thefts, the statement said. <\/p>\n

The other suspect, a 38-year-old woman, was accused of being an accomplice. They were both incarcerated.<\/p>\n

They both denied involvement, the prosecutor said.<\/p>\n

The lawyer for the woman, Adrien Sorrentino, told reporters his client is \u201cdevastated” because she disputes the accusations.<\/p>\n

“She does not understand how she is implicated in any of the elements she is accused of,” he said. <\/p>\n

Jewels have not been recovered<\/p>\n

Officials said the jewels stolen in the Oct. 19 heist have not been recovered \u2014 a trove valued around $102 million that includes a diamond-and-emerald necklace Napoleon gave to Empress Marie-Louise as a wedding gift, jewels tied to 19th-century Queens Marie-Am\u00e9lie and Hortense, and Empress Eug\u00e9nie\u2019s pearl-and-diamond tiara.<\/p>\n

Five people were arrested by police on Wednesday in connection with the case, including one tied to the heist by DNA. That person is suspected of belonging to the team of four who used a freight lift truck to enter the Louvre. The prosecutor did not specify whether the person was among those charged on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The three others have been released without charges, Beccuau said. <\/p>\n

Two earlier suspects, men aged 34 and 39 from Aubervilliers, north of Paris, were charged this week with theft by an organized gang and criminal conspiracy. <\/p>\n

Beccuau said both gave \u201cminimalist\u201d statements and \u201cpartially admitted\u201d their involvement. The two are believed to be the men who forced their way into the Apollo Gallery. One was stopped at Charles-de-Gaulle Airport with a one-way ticket to Algeria; his DNA matched a scooter used in the getaway.<\/p>\n

About 100 investigators involved<\/p>\n

Neither names nor extensive biographical details about the suspects have been made public. <\/p>\n

Information about investigations is meant to be secret under French law, to avoid compromising police work and to ensure victims\u2019 right to privacy, a policy known as \u201csecret d\u2019instruction.\u2033 Only the prosecutor can speak publicly about developments, and violators can be prosecuted. <\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Beccuau praised an \u201cexceptional mobilization\u201d \u2014 about 100 investigators seven days a week, with roughly 150 forensic samples analyzed and 189 items sealed as evidence.<\/p>\n

It took robbers less than 8 minutes to steal the jewels. The team of four used a freight lift, allowing two of them to force a window and cut into two display cases with disc cutters, before the four fled on two scooters toward eastern Paris. Only the \u201cnear-simultaneous\u201d arrival of police and museum security stopped the thieves from torching the lift and destroying crucial evidence, the prosecutor said.<\/p>\n

Investigators said there is no sign of insider help for now, though they are not ruling out a wider network beyond the four on camera.<\/p>\n

In a separate case, Interior Minister Laurent Nu\u00f1ez said six people were arrested on Thursday soon after a robbery at a gold refining laboratory in the city of Lyon during which thieves used explosives. The loot, which was estimated to be worth 12 million euros ($13.9 million) has been recovered, Nu\u00f1ez said on X.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe hunt is still on for the four thieves who stole $102 million worth of French crown jewels from the Louvre on Oct. 19, right after the museum opened.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Paris prosecutor said Saturday two new suspects were handed preliminary charges for their alleged involvement in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[24418,48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":{"0":"post-33945","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-france","9":"tag-la","10":"tag-la-headlines","11":"tag-la-news","12":"tag-los-angeles","13":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","14":"tag-los-angeles-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}