In a score that comes straight out of the playbook of Oceans 11, an armed gunman stole $136 million in diamonds from a French Rivera hotel on Sunday, according to authorities.
The heist occurred at the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in Cannes, France where the propery was putting on a diamond exhibition. Original estimates indicated a loss of $53 million, but after a more thorough check of the inventory officials have raised the value to $136 million, making it one of the largest heists in recent history.
The suspect reportedly broke into the hotel through French doors and held up three private security guards, two vendors and a manager at the show with a handgun before fleeing on foot. The whole encounter took place in less than a minute and no customers where reportedly in the building at the time of the robbery.
“He took a bag containing a briefcase and a small box, and then fled by another French door on the inside,” Philippe Vique, an assistant prosecutor in the French Riviera town of Grasse, told the Associated Press. “He left on foot … it was very fast.”
Jonathan Sazonoff, an editor for the Museum Security Network, told the Associated Press that authorities are investigating whether the heist is connected to a string of jail escapes by the infamous jewel thief gang, the Pink Panthers.
Authorities are investigating all possible leads and at this time do not believe organized crime played a part.
