Nearly three weeks after a 20-year-old man was arrested in Amiens on suspicion of stealing €1.5 million worth of jewellery from the home of an elderly Monégasque woman, the investigation continues to develop. According to Monaco-Matin, which has closely followed the case, Monaco’s Prosecutor General confirmed on July 21 that the suspect had been arrested and placed in custody in connection with a fake police officer scam carried out on July 14 against a 91-year-old Monégasque victim.
While Monaco’s Public Security Department, credited with identifying the suspect, welcomed the arrest, and the Prosecutor General’s office moved quickly to communicate the development, several key questions remained unanswered: where had the stolen jewellery gone, and which city had the thief travelled to afterward?
According to reporting by Courrier Picard this Thursday, August 6, some of those answers are now emerging. The suspect, aged 20, was arrested at his mother’s home in Amiens. Investigators traced his movements after leaving Nice, identifying him first in Paris, then in Brussels, where he is alleged to have sold part of the stolen jewellery. He then travelled to Le Havre, reportedly to hand over the proceeds to the person who had commissioned the theft, an individual he has so far declined to name, citing fear of reprisals, according to the same outlet. The remaining portion of the jewellery was said to have ultimately been recovered at his home, along with €27,800 in cash.
This week, the Amiens-based suspect, formally charged with organised fraud, filed a request for release ahead of his trial, which will be held before the Amiens judicial court. That request was rejected on Thursday, August 6, by the investigating chamber.
Fake police officer scams remain a persistent problem in Monaco, with the Prince’s Government, Public Security and the Prosecutor General’s office repeatedly issuing warnings on the matter in recent weeks. In late June, an 18-year-old was sentenced to 18 months in prison in Monaco after attempting to steal money and jewellery from vulnerable residents while posing as a police officer. More recently, on Wednesday, August 5, a 20-year-old woman received the same sentence from Monaco’s correctional court for similar offences committed against two residents.