PROSECUTORS in France have charged two additional suspects over the spectacular US$102 million jewel heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris, bringing the total number of people formally investigated in the case to four.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said on Saturday that a 37-year-old man, already known to police for previous thefts, was charged with organised theft and criminal conspiracy.
Reuters reported on Sunday that a 38-year-old woman was charged with complicity in organised theft and criminal conspiracy. Both have been placed in pre-trial detention and deny any involvement in the robbery.
Three others who were arrested on 29 October alongside the pair were released without charge, prosecutors confirmed.
According to French media, the woman is from La Courneuve, a working-class suburb north of Paris. Authorities have released no further information about the suspects.
The two join the first pair charged earlier in the investigation — a 34-year-old Algerian man who had lived in France since 2010 and was detained while attempting to board a flight to Algeria, and a 39-year-old already under judicial supervision in an aggravated theft case.
Both men reside in Aubervilliers, a low-income district in northern Paris, and have “partially admitted” their role in the heist, according to prosecutors.
Investigators are still searching for the missing jewels, which remain unaccounted for.
The theft took place two weeks ago when two hooded robbers used a movers’ lift to access a second-floor window of the museum. They smashed display cases containing the jewels using power tools and escaped on scooters driven by accomplices waiting outside.
The audacious crime, carried out in broad daylight, has stunned the art world and raised serious questions about security at the world’s most-visited museum. -November 2, 2025
