It was the daring sleight of hand that netted greater than £4 million in diamonds and was likened to Hollywood heist film Ocean’s Eleven.
As unlikely 60-year-old femme fatale Lulu Lakatos begins a five-and-a-half-year jail sentence, we reveal the complete story behind the audacious 2016 raid on society jewellers Boodles – the largest-value act of shoplifting in British historical past.
All good heists want an alluring femme fatale, and the mysterious overseas girl chargeable for the audacious theft of £4.2 million of diamonds from society jewellers Boodles was one for the ages.
She glided by the title of Anna, gave the impression to be in her mid-50s, and was sporting a sober camel coat, silk scarf and designer hat when she arrived on the quintessentially English retailer’s Bond Road HQ at 11.09am on Thursday, March 10, 2016.
Having met the household agency’s boss, Nick Wainwright, a fancy, silver-haired 73-year-old who’s famend in moneyed circles each for his sensible salesmanship and salmon-pink socks and ties, Anna eliminated her outer layer of clothes.
Beneath was a low-cut black gown, which barely restrained her ample bosom.
Unlikely 60-year-old femme fatale Lulu Lakatos (pictured) begins a five-and-a-half-year jail sentence for the audacious theft of £4.2 million of diamonds from society jewellers Boodles
‘She was most unattractive,’ Mr Wainwright later mentioned in courtroom. ‘She was obese, she was sporting the form of factor a Russian dancer would put on. She had monumental boobs.’
Anna’s look was, in different phrases, garish and maybe tawdry. Nevertheless it was additionally distracting. And that will assist clarify why, when she and her cleavage sauntered out of the luxurious retailer, neither Nick Wainwright, nor any of his staff, observed that she had changed a bag of gems with an similar one crammed with pebbles.
The lacking loot, which included a shocking 20-carat heart-shaped diamond price £2.2 million and the dimensions of a Fox’s Glacier mint, had, through outstanding sleight of hand, been secreted in a false compartment in her designer purse.
It’s the largest-value single incident of shoplifting in British historical past and has been variously in comparison with the plots of an Ocean’s Eleven movie and the 1981 film, Raiders Of The Misplaced Ark, by which hero Indiana Jones replaces a invaluable golden idol with a bag of sand.
5 years on, the diamonds have but to be recovered however, with two members of the gang who masterminded the heist behind bars, a jury at Southwark Crown Court docket spent the previous week contemplating one remaining query: who, precisely, was the mysterious Anna?
Their verdict, introduced yesterday, was that the ice-cool girl’s actual title was Lulu Lakatos – crucially, the very particular person who occurred to be standing within the dock, with frizzy gray hair tied in a ponytail. She was sentenced to 5 and a half years in jail.
The diamonds have but to be recovered, however a jury spent the previous week asking a remaining query: who was the mysterious girl, who glided by Anna, that stole the loot? (inventory picture)
The girl (pictured left in Boodles with knowledgeable), who glided by Anna, changed a bag of gems with an similar one crammed with pebbles with none of the Boodles staff noticing
Lakatos, 60, has an unlikely pedigree for a legal mastermind. A former cleaner and faculty catering assistant, she was born in Arad, Romania, to oldsters of Hungarian ancestry, earlier than shifting to France, the place she honed her craft stealing garments from outlets and was jailed for a sequence of minor thefts relationship again to 2002.
Working alongside a youthful sister named Liliana, she dedicated offences throughout France and Switzerland, the place Liliana – who seems to have died in a motor accident in October 2019 – was beforehand needed over a financial institution heist that bore outstanding similarities to the ‘Boodles Job’.
Liliana was additionally a central determine on this month’s trial – due to the ingenious defence mounted by Lulu who, earlier than her arrest on a European warrant in September, was residing in Saint-Brieuc, a commune in northern Brittany.
Lulu insisted she was an harmless sufferer of mistaken identification, and the late Liliana was the true proprietor of the bosom that bamboozled Boodles.
Her defence was helped by the truth that DNA taken from the shop confirmed the femme fatale might have been both sibling, whereas fingerprints taken from a desk couldn’t be matched to Lulu.
The rip-off dates again to February 2016 when Mr Wainwright was contacted by a ‘Simon Glas’, who mentioned he was keen on shopping for high-value diamonds as an funding on behalf of some rich Russians, and over the following days managed to persuade Mr Wainwright to journey to Monaco for a face-to-face assembly with a gaggle of buyers, the place a deal was struck to purchase seven particular diamonds.
Nonetheless, to confirm they had been the required measurement and high quality, the Russians requested for his or her gemmologist, ‘Anna’, to be allowed to examine the stones at Bond Road.
Beneath the association – believed to be comparatively frequent within the gem commerce – the stones could be verified by this knowledgeable after which positioned in a bag which the gemmologist would then padlock shut so its contents couldn’t be tampered with.
Boodles would maintain it till the shop acquired a £4.2 million financial institution switch, at which level it could be handed over.
‘It is not the form of deal Boodles usually do, however Nick [Wainwright] took the view that this was an excellent value certainly for these seven diamonds,’ a supply with information of the case informed me.
The lacking loot, which included a 20-carat diamond price £2.2 million, through outstanding sleight of hand, been secreted in a false compartment in her designer purse (pictured)
‘Anna’ left the shop shortly after midday and was met by two feminine accomplices. CCTV footage (pictured) reveals her dropping the diamonds into considered one of their purses
‘He thought the Russians had been severely over-paying, and had extra money than sense. Maybe that slightly blinded him to the very fact he was being taken for a trip.’
Police imagine the heist concerned six accomplices, two of whom – Christophe Stankovic and Mikhael Jovanovic – are already behind bars, having been convicted final 12 months.
They drove to London from Paris in a rented Citroen DS4 hatchback on March 9, coming into Kent at 1.15pm. They checked into the Finest Western Lodge in Ilford, Essex, with two girls.
On the opposite aspect of London that afternoon, ‘Anna’ and one other girl arrived by prepare from Paris and travelled to Kilburn, north-west London, the place they checked into the Cricklewood Lodge Lodge.
At 8.15pm, ‘Anna’ walked to a restaurant, the place she met Stankovic and Jovanovic. The trio drove into central London, the place they carried out surveillance on the Boodles retailer and its environment.
The next morning, the 4 gang members in Ilford took a minicab to Bond Road, the place they arrived at round 9.30am.
‘Anna’ and her confederate received a cab to the Willow Stroll pub close to Victoria Station, the place the confederate waited with their suitcases whereas ‘Anna’ walked to Boodles in time for an 11am appointment with Mr Wainwright and gemmologist Emma Barton.
She was escorted to the basement, the place she sat at a desk and weighed the diamonds, earlier than wrapping them in tissue paper, and transferring each to a small field. They had been then positioned within the zipped bag, which ‘Anna’ padlocked shut.
At this level, Mr Wainwright started to have suspicions about her behaviour. ‘She did not have a look at the stones by an eyeglass, as a gemmologist would possibly do,’ he informed the courtroom. ‘I used to be watching her like a hawk.’
However Mr Wainwright was then distracted by a phone name from ‘Alexander’, the supposed Russian purchaser. This was Anna’s cue.
‘She watched Nicholas stroll up the steps and as quickly as his again was turned on the spiral staircase, she grabbed the bag and caught it in her purse,’ Miss Barton informed the jury.
‘I mentioned, ‘no, no, no,’ you possibly can’t try this. Please take the diamonds out of your purse now. In English, she replied, ‘Don’t fret, there’s nothing to fret about’.’
The courtroom heard the locked purse was in her purse for 2 or three seconds earlier than it was put again on the desk, after which transferred to the shop protected.
Now extremely suspicious, Miss Barton informed Mr Wainwright what had occurred. He searched the bag in what he described as a ‘gentlemanly’ vogue, however discovered nothing.
‘Anna’ left the shop shortly after midday and was met by Stankovic and Jovanovic’s two feminine accomplices. CCTV footage reveals her dropping the diamonds into considered one of their purses earlier than returning to the Willow Stroll pub.
It wasn’t till the subsequent afternoon that Boodles workers realised they’d been swindled. When the bag was opened, they noticed inside seven pebbles (pictured) ‘comparable in measurement’ to the diamonds
She and the confederate then travelled to King’s Cross and caught a Eurostar prepare to Paris.
In the meantime, Stankovic and Jovanovic and the 2 girls hailed separate taxis and requested to be taken to the Gants Hill roundabout in east London.
There they met up, walked again to their lodge, jumped within the Citroen, and returned to France through the Channel Tunnel.
It wasn’t till the next afternoon that Boodles workers realised they’d been swindled.
When the promised £4.2 million didn’t seem, they despatched the bag to a specialist facility at Heathrow to be X-rayed, which revealed that one thing ‘didn’t look like fairly proper’.
When the bag was torn open, the horrified jewellers found that it contained seven pebbles ‘comparable in measurement’ to the diamonds.
It will have been the proper crime, however for painstaking work by Scotland Yard’s Flying Squad who traced Stankovic by the rent automotive’s quantity plate and Jovanovic through his Eurostar tickets. It is unclear what led them to Lakatos.
As for the stolen diamonds, detectives imagine one could have turned up at a Belgian jewelry retailer round 2017. Its uncommon measurement arose suspicion, however officers had been unable to show it was one of many stolen sparklers as a result of the paperwork didn’t match.
Boodles, for its half, is believed to stay significantly out of pocket. The corporate will maybe suppose twice about doing enterprise with mysterious Russians and their alluring feminine associates, nonetheless ample their bosom.
Can YOU spot the second jewel thief granny switched £4.2m diamonds for nugatory PEBBLES? How 60-year-old Romanian girl pulled off Hollywood heist in society jeweller Boodles – as she is jailed for five-and-a-half years
- Lulu Lakatos posed as gemmologist known as ‘Anna’ to rearrange inspection of the seven diamond-studded rings
- After diverting Boodles boss Nicholas Wainwright, she positioned purse of jewels in her purse, CCTV reveals
- Was challenged by workers member, at which level she introduced out a reproduction bag weighed down with pebbles
- Later, Lakatos tried accountable the theft on her lookalike youthful sister, Liliana, who was killed in a automotive crash
- Audacious heist believed to be highest worth particular person theft offence of this type ever dedicated within the UK
That is the second a sixty-year-old girl swiped £4.2million price of gems below the noses of workers at London society jeweller Boodles – as she was at this time jailed for five-and-a-half years for the Ocean’s Eleven-style heist.
Lulu Lakatos had posed as a gemmologist known as ‘Anna’ to rearrange an inspection of the seven diamond-studded rings with Boodles boss Nicholas Wainwright – supposedly to worth them for rich Russian shoppers.
On the essential second she organized for a phone name to take Mr Wainwright away and put a padlocked purse containing the diamonds into her purse in entrance of one other worker, as proven on the shop’s CCTV.
Diamond knowledgeable Emma Barton instantly challenged her, at which level the Romanian pulled off an astonishing sleight of hand, swapping the jewel-laden purse with a exact reproduction weighed down with pebbles.
Ms Barton raised suspicions however the gems – believed to have been hid in a hidden compartment – weren’t discovered within the Lakatos’ purse, as she used the pretence of poor English to recommend a misunderstanding.
She left the Bond Road retailer the place 4 accomplices had been ready outdoors earlier than placing the gems into the purse of an unknown girl. She and the worldwide gang of grifters fled the UK for France in lower than three hours.
When the purse in Boodles’ protected was opened the next day, inside had been seven small backyard pebbles, and the true diamonds have by no means been recovered.
After being caught, Lakatos claimed Anna was her youthful sister, Liliana, who had confessed to utilizing Lulu’s passport to commit the crime months earlier than she died in a automotive crash, aged 49, in Romania in October 2019.
Prosecutor Oliver Mosley mentioned: ‘This was a conspiracy of the best sophistication. It’s believed to be the best worth particular person theft offence of this type ever dedicated on this nation.’
Lulu Lakatos is seen bundling a jewel-laden purse into her purse – as she is challenged by Boodles diamond knowledgeable Emma Barton
Diamond knowledgeable Emma Barton instantly challenged her, at which level the Romanian pulled off an astonishing sleight of hand, swapping the jewel-laden purse with a exact reproduction weighed down with pebbles
Lakatos sobbed within the dock after she was discovered responsible of conspiracy to steal on or earlier than March 10 2016 by a jury at Southwark Crown Court docket by a majority of 10 to 1 after 9 hours and 19 minutes of deliberations.
Decide Emma Goodall QC sentenced Lakatos to five-and-a-half years’ imprisonment at this time.
Pictured: Lakatos leaving the premises
‘You’ve got been convicted of conspiring to steal diamonds, the jury having rejected your defence it was your deceased sister and never you who perpetrated the offence,’ she mentioned.
‘This was a extremely refined and audacious offence when it comes to planning, threat and reward, an offence in respect of which you performed an integral function,’ the decide informed Lakatos.
‘You spent virtually an hour within the Boodles London showroom exploiting their belief, which allowed you to interact in a brazen deception and thru sleight of hand you stole seven diamonds valued at £4.2 million.’
Lakatos was needed in Switzerland for an virtually similar plot, the place an envelope containing 400,000 euros was switched for a replica crammed with paper.
She had arrived in London the day earlier than the theft and was captured on CCTV with Georgeta Danila, 53, coming into the Cricklewood Lodge Lodge in north London earlier than making a reconnaissance journey to Boodles with Christophe Stankovic and Mickael Jovanovic.
Danila waited within the Willow Stroll Wetherspoon pub in Victoria with a change of garments for Lakatos, who went to Boodles disguised in an extended darkish coat, brimmed hat and lengthy scarf.
Mr Wainwright escorted her down a glass spiral staircase into the assembly room with Ms Barton, the place Lakatos examined and weighed the diamonds.
The Boodles chairman mentioned he was ‘watching her like a hawk’ as she wrapped the diamonds individually in pre-cut tissue paper and positioned them inside opaque containers, which had been put right into a zippable purse-like bag that was padlocked shut.
He informed the courtroom: ‘Anna was most unattractive, she was obese, she was dressed most terribly, she was sporting the form of factor a Russian dancer would put on.
‘She had monumental boobs and you might see her cleavage, it was most unattractive.’ He added, ‘I used to be watching her like a hawk,’ however mentioned he was distracted by a name from the faux Russian purchaser.’
The second Lakatos produced a reproduction purse from her purse, which she later handed over to Ms Barton. Her bag was examined by the jewels weren’t discovered
A few of the gems that Lakatos stole within the audacious theft in central London – together with a 3.03 carat ring price greater than £1m
The pebbles that Lakatos had used to crush an similar bag to the one containing the jems, which she handed to workers
The reproduction padlocked bag utilized by the gang – who had been capable of spirit the true jewels away earlier than being tracked down
Lakatos outdoors Boodles on the day of the heist the place she switched the padlocked bag with a replica one already saved inside her purse containing seven pebbles of the identical weight because the diamonds
Ms Barton mentioned Anna put the locked purse into her personal purse when Mr Wainwright went upstairs to take a name from ‘Alexander’.
‘She watched Nicholas stroll up the steps and as quickly as his again was turned on the spiral staircase, she grabbed the bag and caught it in her purse,’ she mentioned, giving proof.
‘I mentioned, ‘no, no, no, you possibly can’t try this. Please take the diamonds out of your purse now. I’ve to have the ability to see the diamonds always’.
‘In English, she replied, ‘It is OK, don’t fret, there’s nothing to fret about’.’
Mr Wainwright was informed what she had accomplished when he returned and he demanded ‘Anna’ empty her bag – however the stones had been hid and he or she was allowed to go away.
After leaving the shop, Lakatos switched the diamonds to the bag of considered one of two unknown younger girls earlier than discarding her disguise and leaving London for France on the Eurostar with Danila.
Nicholas Wainwright, Chairman of Boodles, which was hit by a £4.2million diamond theft
Later Mr Wainwright listened in on his cellphone as one of many Boodles workers members opened the bag and gasped: ‘Oh my God, it is pebbles’.
Stankovic and Jovanovic left with the 2 youthful girls in a rented automotive by the Channel Tunnel.
Each males had been jailed for 3 years and eight months after pleading responsible to conspiracy to steal, whereas Danila was acquitted after telling a jury she had no concept she was concerned within the crime.
Ioana Nedelcu, defending Lakatos, mentioned the masterminds have by no means been caught.
Romanian-born Lakatos, from Saint-Brieuc, Brittany, has three earlier convictions for theft in France.
Lakatos was a part of a gang of grifters who had been travelling Europe making an attempt to tear of banks and jewellers together with her wonderful sleight of hand.
Her sister Liliana walked off with the Euro 400,000 on 15 October 2014 from AEK Financial institution in Oberhofen in Bern, Switzerland.
Liliana switched an envelope containing eight bundles of euros for the same envelope containing nugatory paper whereas AEK govt Reta Hartmann was distracted by a phone-call throughout their assembly in a Swiss financial institution vault.
Swiss police later recognized the lady who swapped the envelopes as a Lakatos however for some purpose she was by no means arrested or charged.
Flying Squad Appearing Detective Sergeant William Man mentioned the investigation remains to be ongoing to determine others concerned within the heist.
He mentioned: ‘This was an audacious theft, carried out in plain view of skilled {and professional} workers at a famend jewellers.
‘The meticulous planning and execution of this theft reveals to me that these concerned had been extremely expert criminals.’
Senior Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor Thomas Quick added: ‘Lulu Lakatos’ actions had been legal. She performed an integral half in an audacious swoop that may very well be likened to a scene from a Hollywood movie.’
How Romanian thief, 60, virtually received away with £4.2m Ocean’s Eleven-style diamond heist from London society jeweller Boodles utilizing sleight of hand to swap them for PEBBLES as she is discovered responsible regardless of pointing finger of blame at her lifeless lookalike sister
By Martin Robinson, Chief Reporter for MailOnline
The buxom and ‘most unattractive’ Romanian thief convicted of the largest jewelry store heist in British historical past left the UK for France through the Channel Tunnel inside three hours after dumping her glamourous granny disguise in a Wetherspoons bathroom after which blamed a lookalike sister who had been killed in a automotive crash for nabbing £4.2million of diamonds.
Lulu Lakatos faces five-and-a-half years in a British jail after she was convicted of being a faux gemmologist often called Anna who pulled off the audacious theft proper below the nostril of the boss of Boodles of New Bond Road.
However Lukatos virtually received away with the ‘good crime’ after distracting witnesses together with her ample cleavage, an outrageous and costly low-cut black gown, heavy make-up, thick-rimmed glasses and enormous hat – a world away from the dowdy and ‘plump’ grey-haired thief within the dock at Southwark Crown Court docket over the previous month.
In a plot resembling the Ocean’s 8 film starring Anne Hathaway, the conwoman even fooled Boodles chairman Nicholas Wainwright by posing as a gemmologist employed by rich Russian businessmen in search of to buy the dear stones from its flagship Mayfair retailer.
However in contrast to the glamorous gem thieves within the hit Hollywood film, Lakatos resembled a plump ‘Russian dancer’ in a low-cut gown, flashing her ample cleavage to distract workers, witnesses mentioned.
Gemmologist Emma Barton and Mr Wainwright had been each hoodwinked after he agreed to promote the dear stones to a gang posing as Moscow millionaires with hyperlinks to Israel. In actual fact Lakatos was a part of a gang of grifters who had been travelling Europe making an attempt to tear of banks and jewellers together with her wonderful sleight of hand.
The chairman, whose household have run the luxurious jewellers for six generations, agreed to let a diamond knowledgeable often called Anna go to the basement of his flagship Mayfair retailer to examine the gems when she swapped them for nugatory pebbles with out anybody noticing on March 10, 2016.
Sources with information of the crime, and subsequent investigation, mentioned after her arrest they imagine it was really impressed by a 2014 Channel 4 fly-on-the-wall documentary known as The Million Pound Necklace: Inside Boodles, which supplied a ‘privileged peek’ behind the scenes of the family-owned agency.
And as for the society jeweller, they’ve recovered a small quantity of funds through proceeds of crime proceedings, however stay thousands and thousands out of pocket if the gems weren’t absolutely insured.
The gems had been to be positioned in a padlocked purse and held within the jewellers’ vault till funds had been transferred.
However CCTV footage from the household agency’s New Bond Road basement showroom captured the second the purse was put into Anna’s purse and switched for a replica simply containing small rocks as Mr Wainwright went upstairs to take a phone name from the Russian purchaser.
Lakatos moved the loot from her bag to the purse of two unknown younger girls, who had been ready in close by Ralph Lauren and Cartier shops.
These suspects have by no means been discovered.
The thief from the Saint Brieuc area of France then modified her garments in a pub bathroom close to Victoria station earlier than leaving London on the Eurostar.
Inside three hours, the gang had left the nation with the haul, which included a £1.1 million three carat pear-shaped fancy pink diamond.
Two members of the gang, Mickael Jovanovic and Christophe Stankovic have already admitted conspiracy to steal.
Lakatos was arrested in France on September 24 final 12 months and extradited to the UK to face trial in December.
However in a rare case Lulu Lakatos mentioned her sister Liliana had confessed months earlier than her loss of life to being the faux gemmologist often called Anna who pulled off the audacious theft proper below the nostril of the boss of society jewellers Boodles.
The 60-year-old Romanian mentioned her youthful sister had used her passport to journey to the UK and perform the eyewatering con in 2016, snatching gems together with a heart-shaped diamond price £2,215,138 in a ‘sleight of hand’.
Lakatos informed Southwark Crown Court docket that her sibling took steps to age her look and stole her passport at a time that she was distracted by her husband’s prostate most cancers.
The convicted thief, who admitted to having a number of convictions relationship again to 2002, claimed her sister deliberate handy herself into police in Paris.
However earlier than she might achieve this, she was killed in a automotive accident in Constanta County, Romania.
The bespectacled grey-haired defendant produced a loss of life certificates to show her sister died aged 49 on October 1, 2019.
Jurors heard Liliana additionally had a string of convictions for theft and was needed in Switzerland for theft and fraud on the time of her loss of life.
Fingermarks left on the glass desk within the Boodles showroom couldn’t be matched to Lulu Lakatos’s prints.
A combined DNA profile was recovered from the pebbles swapped for the diamonds which couldn’t exclude both sister, jurors had been informed.
The thief was pushed to take a look at New Bond Road’s Boodles the night time earlier than the heist
She then left the shop and gave the purse to 2 girls strolling previous outdoors -and they’ve by no means been traced
It additionally emerged that Boodles personal gemmologist Emma Barton who witnessed the heist picked out Liliana because the offender in an identification process.
However, in his closing speech to the jury, Mr Stott mentioned it was Lulu Lakatos, not her sister, who was captured on CCTV switching the diamonds for pebbles at Boodles earlier than handing them to an confederate and fleeing to France.
‘You possibly can see her within the footage, it’s her,’ he mentioned.
‘What has occurred right here may be very easy: The defendant has taken benefit of the truth that her sister sadly handed away with a view to attempt to keep away from the blame for this offence.’
Lula Lakatos, who has Romanian and Hungarian citizenship, had admitted she had carried out a sequence of minor thefts in France relationship again to 2002.
Giving proof by a French interpreter, she mentioned: ‘I went by tough occasions, financially, so I do know it is mistaken to do it however I had tough monetary moments.
‘I’ve stopped as a result of I used to be too scared to hold on with my life like this, so I attempted to search out different means.
‘I labored in brief time period contracts.
‘I used to be at school, in a canteen, I did some cleansing work.
‘I’ve been residing in Saint-Brieuc since 1983, 1984, with my husband, afterward I took an condo with my sister.’ When Ioana Nedelcu, defending, requested: ‘Who’s the individual that has been known as ‘Anna’ all through these proceedings?
The 60-year-old wearing a plain black gown, together with her frizzy gray hair tied again in a ponytail, replied: ‘It’s my sister, Liliana Lakatos.’
Lakatos informed jurors she had not been within the UK since a visit together with her sister and Georgeta Danila – one other girl mentioned to have been concerned within the Boodles theft – in 2012.
Her sister solely confessed after Danila was held by police months earlier than Liliana’s loss of life, she mentioned.
‘When her pal Georgeta Danila has been stopped, that is when she confessed concerning the passport and all the things else,’ Lakatos informed the courtroom.
‘In March 2016, I used to be in Saint-Brieuc, in France.
‘In 2016, my husband had been recognized with prostate most cancers, I used to be coping with that for the entire 12 months.
‘At first, I used to be indignant, and he or she promised that she is going to make all the things up.
‘She needed to do it herself. She promised me she wanted time, she needed to current herself. If she did not have this accident, she could be right here at this time.’ However prosecutor Philip Stott urged: ‘Is what’s occurred you will have determined to reap the benefits of the very fact your sister has handed away and sought to pin all of the blame on her? That is what you will have accomplished, have not you?’
Christophe Stankovic, a gang member concerned within the heist, rented a Citroen DS4 hatchback in Paris after which checked into the Finest Western Lodge in Ilford, Essex (pictured) with two different accomplices
Lakatos replied: ‘No, under no circumstances sir. If my sister had been alive, she could be standing right here.
‘I’d have most popular it if she was right here, as a result of she would have most popular to be in jail, as a result of you possibly can come again from jail, nonetheless, she will be able to’t come again from the place she is now.’ The prosecutor requested: ‘What your saying is that your sister has taken your passport, colored her hair, gone to England to hold out this crime, returned to France, made herself look her regular age, to then return to your condo to switch the passport, is that the suggestion you make?
‘You’ll agree, would not you, that the lady we see within the CCTV look an terrible lot such as you would not she?’
Lakatos replied: ‘It appears to be like like, nevertheless it’s not me.’ She is alleged to have switched the diamonds to the purse of an unknown girl earlier than leaving London for France on the Eurostar with Danila.
Boodles chairman Nicholas Wainwright mentioned the lady he knew as ‘Anna’ was dressed ‘terribly’.
The chairman, whose household have run the luxurious jewellers for six generations, had agreed to let the supposed diamond knowledgeable go to the basement of his New Bond Road retailer to examine the gems, when she allegedly swapped them for pebbles utilizing ‘sleight of hand’ with out anybody noticing on March 10, 2016.
In an elaborate sting by the thieves, Mr Wainwright had beforehand agreed the sale of the seven diamonds following a lunch assembly at Monaco’s Lodge Metropole.
However when the faux gemmologist arrived to examine the gems, she ‘appeared unusual’.
‘This girl known as Anna appeared unusual,’ he mentioned.
‘She did not have a look at the stones by an eyeglass, as a gemmologist would possibly do, and he or she did not test their certificates.’
He informed the courtroom: ‘Anna was most unattractive, she was obese, she was dressed most terribly, she was sporting the form of factor a Russian dancer would put on.
‘She had monumental boobs and you might see her cleavage, it was most unattractive.’ He added, ‘I used to be watching her like a hawk,’ however mentioned he was distracted by a name from the faux Russian purchaser.
The behaviour of Lakatos, who has Romanian and Hungarian citizenship, additionally arouse the suspicions of Boodles’ personal gemmologist Emma Barton who was watching.
After ‘Anna’ managed to steal the £4.2million price of diamonds, she modified her garments in a close-by Wetherspoons pub earlier than fleeing to Kings Cross station to journey again to Paris through Eurostar
Miss Barton described the imposter: ‘She got here in sporting a camel coat.
‘When she took it off, she was sporting a really low-cut black gown. She was sporting a hat very low-down, so I could not see her brow, and he or she was sporting a pair of glasses with thick arms.
‘She did not use a loupe, a jeweller’s eye glass. As a primary level of name, that’s what you’d typically do.
‘She had some gemmologist’s tools that she introduced together with her, scales, an ultraviolet mild and a thermal conductivity probe.
‘She took every stone, weighed it, locations it below ultraviolet mild, and used the thermal conductivity probe.
‘She did not know tips on how to use her tools very properly. To start with, would by no means use the ultraviolet mild below store lights, you want a darkened room.
‘It did make me query the {qualifications} that Anna had.’
The Romanian defendant is claimed to have chatted to Mr Wainwright in French as she weighed the jewels earlier than wrapping every in pre-cut tissue paper and putting them inside opaque containers she had introduced alongside together with her.
When the examination was full, the containers had been positioned right into a zipped purse bag which was then padlocked shut whereas Boodles personal gemmologist Emma Barton was watching, jurors heard.
However she managed to carry out a swap with an similar bag stuffed with pebbles after placing the diamonds in her purse momentarily, it was alleged.
Miss Barton recalled: ‘I mentioned ‘No, no, no, you possibly can’t try this, please take them out of your purse now, I’ve to see them always.’
‘She mentioned: ‘It is OK, don’t fret, it is nothing to fret about.’
‘Then she took the bag out and positioned it on the desk.
‘4 million kilos price of diamonds had been out of my sight.’
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