Three years since what is believed to be the biggest jewellery heist in US history, seven men have been charged with stealing bags of gold, diamonds, watches and gems worth $100 million.
In July 2022, the thieves tracked an armoured Brinks truck transporting 73 bags of precious jewellery and watches from an international jewellery show near San Francisco to a remote rest stop 300 miles away. As one of the truck drivers rested in the truck, another went inside the station to have a meal, officials said.
This was enough time to allow the suspects to break into the truck and steal 24 of the bags filled with gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and luxury watches, thought to be worth a total of $100 million. Officials have not disclosed how the thieves got inside the truck but, remarkably, no weapons were used and no one was injured during the robbery.
According to an official release from the US Attorney’s Office, three of the men scouted the truck as it left the jewellery show in San Mateo, California. In the days following the theft, many of the suspects deactivated their mobile phone numbers that they had been using during the heist.
All seven defendants are from the Los Angeles area have been indicted and charged with two counts of ‘conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment’ and ‘theft from interstate and foreign shipment’. Five of the men also face other charges of ‘conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery’ and ‘interference with commerce by robbery’. Some of the stolen jewels were recovered during arrests, according to the official document. The pieces were, according to the Los Angeles Times, “the kind of stuff you see at the Oscars.” Officials believe roughly half the stolen jewels are still unaccounted for.
According to the US Department of Justice, if convicted, these five suspects “would face statutory maximum sentences of 20 years in federal prison for each robbery charge, and all defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for the theft conspiracy charge and 10 years in federal prison for each theft charge.”
In other news, eight members of the gang that robbed Kim Kardashian of jewels worth an estimated 10 million euros were found guilty by a Paris court earlier this year. Two others were aqcuitted.
