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Two men suspected of making off with €88m (£75m) worth of jewels from Louvre museum Paris Last August he was said to have told investigators that the alleged perpetrators were frustrated by the carry-on and thought they “could have taken more”.
The French newspaper Le Monde reported on the alleged theft last month by two judges investigating the investigation, providing detailed information on the thefts that took place around the world. it caused the director of the museum to resign.
According to a report seen by the newspaper, the suspects, identified as Abdoulaye N and Ghelamallah A, said they broke into the Louvre’s Apollo gallery at the behest of a customer who declined to be named for fear of their families.
The pair confiscated eight items of jewelry including a tiara, brooch, necklaces and earrings. But while fleeing, the suspects dropped a valuable helmet worn in the 1800s by Queen Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III.
“Yes, it was me, it fell out of my bag,” Abdoulaye N says he admitted, adding, when the judges showed him a photo of the damaged crown: “What we did was not right, it’s very difficult.”
He said the pair gave the rest to an expert who was reportedly “displeased” with the results. “They thought we would have taken more,” he told investigators.
Both men said they were hired just two or three days before the attack and were shown a video recorded inside the building that showed the charges and Napoleon’s jewels, to prepare them for the seizure.
Abdoulaye N said that he was given a clear job: “To break windows and remove jewelry from inside bottles.”
Former social media star and motorcycle enthusiast, Abdoulaye N said he “faced a lot of trouble” financially, and was promised €15,000-€20,000 for his fraudulent activity. “Maybe even more, depending on how much money it can bring.”
He said the client’s motive was for money and he planned to resell the stolen jewels.
“I knew I was going to rob the Louvre,” Abdoulaye N is said to have told investigators, while Ghelamallah A said he did not know about the motive, which he said was initially presented to him as “a jewelry store where they make jewelry in Paris” and not the most visited museum in the world.
“I wouldn’t have stepped on it if I had known,” he said, noting that they had agreed on between €between between €20,000 to €25,000.
After access to the first floor balcony via a chairliftthe pair allegedly broke through the windows of the Apollo Gallery, entered the museum and began cutting the windows of two display cases.
“When we entered, there was no one there, it was dark, only the lights on the displays were on,” said Abdoulaye N in the report. “In the distance, I see security moving around, behind a door, or something.”
He said he knew he was running against the clock.
“We had to get as much jewelry as we could,” he said. “If we take more than three minutes, we know that we will leave, otherwise we will be told.” For me, what we did took a long time.
Both Abdoulaye N and Ghelamallah A said they did not know what happened to the jewels but refused to give investigators information about the originator or anyone else for fear of retaliation.
“They are not musical boys,” said Ghelamallah A. Abdoulaye N was also careful: “I was not threatened, but I received calls from outside (I am in prison). They told me to be quiet.”
Le Monde said that investigators have not confirmed that the robbers represent anyone.
