The loot of jewels and the damages caused by the four thieves who took eight pieces from the collection of Napoleon and the Empress last Sunday has been estimated by the Louvre Museum at 88 million euros, as reported by the Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau.
The prosecutor confirmed that the investigators have fingerprints that may belong to the four assailants, who possibly had the support of "several teams that helped them carry out the robbery." Beccuau warned that she could not answer with a "yes or no" to the question about possible complicity within the museum staff.
Additionally, Beccuau considered that the assailants "will never obtain that considerable sum" of 88 million if they decide to melt or dismantle the objects. "Perhaps we can hope that they think about this and do not destroy these jewels recklessly."
The president of the Louvre, Laurence des Cars, submitted her resignation after the robbery of Napoleon and the Empress's jewels last Sunday, but Emmanuel Macron rejected it, as revealed by Le Figaro. "Stand firm, we cannot disrupt the museum's renewal momentum," the French president told her in that conversation. Now the museum director will have to face the appearance scheduled for this Wednesday before the deputies of the National Assembly.
The Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, assured the Parliament that "the Louvre's security measures worked", despite the spectacular robbery that took place on Sunday morning, when four hooded individuals managed to seize eight jewels from Napoleon and the Empress's collection in seven minutes by entering through an exterior window with the help of a forklift in the Apollo Gallery. An audit by the French Court of Auditors had already warned the institution of security issues.
"I want to clarify some facts," Dati warned during the Government's question time in the National Assembly. "Were the Louvre's security measures defective?" she asked aloud, before answering with a resounding "no." According to the minister, the responsibility for what happened lies with "forty years of neglect in terms of museum security."
"This event has been a wound for all of us, because the Louvre Museum is the showcase of French culture and represents our common heritage," the minister emphasized. Meanwhile, the Louvre Museum responded to the information revealed by Le Canard Enchaîné, stating that the display cases protecting the jewels were changed six years ago and were more fragile than the previous ones - the assailants used a glass cutter to take the jewels. "The display cases installed in 2019 represented a significant improvement in terms of security, given the proven obsolescence of the old equipment," highlighted the museum in a statement, also pointing out that "had they not been replaced," those display cases "would have led to the removal of the works from public view."
Investigators from the Central Office for the Fight against the Trafficking of Cultural Goods (OCBC, in French) have so far recovered a helmet and a glove worn by the four perpetrators of the Louvre museum robbery, as reported by Le Parisien. The investigators have also contacted the owner of the van equipped with a forklift that the assailants used to access the Apollo Gallery directly. The owner had advertised the sale of the van on the Leboncoin website and claimed that he had met with the supposed buyers, who assaulted him and took the vehicle without paying the agreed amount.