A London judge sentenced Lulu Lakatos, 60, to 5 1/2 years in prison for stealing $5.7 million in diamonds from a fine jewelry store. Before the heist, her accomplices met with store staff to prepare them for a visit from someone they claimed is a very wealthy Russian. After that, Lakatos visited the shop to appraise diamonds in preparation for the non-existent buyer's visit. From Local21News:
After she inspected the gems, which included a 20-carat heart-shaped diamond valued at more than 2.2 million pounds, they were individually wrapped and placed in a locked bag that was supposed to be held in the jeweler's vault until payment was received. But when Boodles' own expert became suspicious the next day, the bag was X-rayed and the store discovered nothing but seven ordinary pebbles.
Security cam footage revealed that Lakatos had swapped the bags. After departing the shop, she was seen "ditching the long coat, hat and scarf she wore as a disguise" on her way to hop on a high-speed train to France.
Inspector Clouseau was not available for comment.
