French prosecutors charge a fourth alleged member of the
gang behind last month’s dramatic Louvre jewel heist, expanding the
investigation into the robbery.
On October 19, the four- person gang stormed the world's
most- visited art gallery in broad daylight, taking only seven minutes to steal
jewelry worth an estimated $102 million before fleeing by scooter.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau linked the fourth suspect as
a 39- time-old joker from the working- class Paris area of Seine- Saint-
Denis.
"Already convicted six times, this man was known to courts for various offences, such as pimping, driving without a licence, and receiving stolen goods,"
Beccuau said in a statement.
He has been imprisoned awaiting trial.
According to a person familiar with the case, the last
alleged member of the gang was arrested on Tuesday at a construction site in
the western French town of Laval.
The four people suspected to be responsible for the robbery
have been detained and charged with organized theft and criminal conspiracy.
The stolen jewelry, as well as the perpetrators, remain
unaccounted for.
The robbers put a vehicle with an extension
ladder beneath the museum's Apollo Gallery, which houses the French royal
jewels, then climbed up, shattered a window, and used angle grinders to cut
into glass exhibit booths carrying the treasures.
The other suspects currently in custody, men aged 35, 37,
and 39, are accused of being part of the four-person team.
Two of them are thought to have entered the Apollo Gallery,
while the other two including the one charged on Friday remained outside before
departing together.
As they fled, the burglars dropped a diamond and
emerald-studded crown that had formerly belonged to Empress Eugenie, Napoleon
III's wife.
However, they stole eight other pieces of jewelry, including
an emerald and diamond necklace given by Napoleon I to his second wife, Empress
Marie-Louise.
A 38-year-old woman, one of the men's partners, is accused
of complicity. They have children together. The woman was released on bond.
Last week, Louvre director Laurence des Cars promised more
police and security cameras to help prevent future crimes. She stated
approximately 20 "emergency" measures will be implemented, including
officers stationed "inside the Louvre" and 100 more security cameras
throughout the institution.
What evidence prosecutors presented at the preliminary hearings?
At the primary sounds for the Louvre jewel pinch suspects,
prosecutors presented substantiation intended to establish probable cause that
a crime was committed and that the indicted were involved.
Witness evidence outlining the involvement of the suspects
and details about the pinch. Physical substantiation similar as DNA linking the
suspects to the crime scene.
The standard at the primary jail isn't to prove guilt beyond a reasonable mistrustfulness but to show enough substantiation to raise a reasonable belief in the suspects' involvement, allowing the case to go to trial. Prosecutors also presented details of the suspects' apprehensions and the links between them and the stolen £102 million of crown jewels, buttressing their arguments for organized thievery and conspiracy charges.