The Paris prosecutor said Saturday two new suspects were handed preliminary charges for their alleged involvement in the crown jewels heist at the Louvre museum, three days after they were arrested by police as part of the sweeping investigation.
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.
The other suspect, a 38-year-old woman, was accused of being an accomplice. They were both incarcerated.
The lawyer for the woman, Adrien Sorrentino, told reporters his client is “devastated” because she disputes the accusations.
“She does not understand how she is implicated in any of the elements she is accused of,” he said.
Jewels have not been recovered
Officials said the jewels stolen in the Oct. 19 heist have not been recovered — 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-Amélie and Hortense, and Empress Eugénie’s pearl-and-diamond tiara.
