38-Year-Old French Woman Charged With Criminal Conspiracy Over $102 Million Louvre Heist

A 38-year-old woman, who was arrested this week along with four other people in connection with the daring $102 million jewel heist at the Louvre Museum’s Apollo Gallery, home to the French Crown Jewels, has been charged with complicity to organised theft and criminal conspiracy.

The unidentified suspect, who lives in the northern La Courneuve suburb of Paris, appeared before a magistrate on Saturday, who decided to detain her.

The woman was in tears as she appeared at a Paris court, saying she feared for “her children” and for herself. The magistrate justified her detention of the woman on the grounds of a “risk of collusion” and “disturbance of public order”.

In total, two of the five people arrested this week were charged on Saturday, while

the other three have been released without charge, police sources and sources close to the case told AFP.

Adrien Sorrentino, a lawyer for the woman who was remanded in custody, said his client “vehemently” denied the charges against her. “She is devastated. This is a spectacular heist, and the decision that has just been made is a spectacular one: a young woman has just been placed in detention despite being presumed innocent,” he told reporters.

Last month, thieves wielding power tools raided the Louvre, the world’s most visited art museum, in broad daylight and stole jewellery worth an estimated $102 million. According to a minister’s estimate, the entire operation lasted “almost four minutes”. Other sources pegged the heist to “around seven minutes”.

A team of thieves broke into the Louvre Museum in Paris, targeting the Galerie d’Apollon — home to France’s priceless crown jewels. Disguised as maintenance workers, the gang used a furniture lift to access a side window, bypassing several external cameras that, investigators later admitted, were inactive. The operation appeared highly coordinated, with evidence suggesting at least four individuals were directly involved, supported by lookouts and a getaway driver outside the museum.

The stolen haul consisted of at least eight or nine items from the French crown jewels collection: tiaras, necklaces, earrings, brooches, many with connections to the Napoleonic era, such as pieces belonging to Empress Eugénie and Queen Marie-Amélie, according to reports.

The heist — which exposed serious security lapses at the world’s most-visited museum — has been described in French media as a “national embarrassment,” intensifying pressure on cultural and law enforcement authorities to recover the stolen treasures.

French authorities initially announced the arrest of two suspects. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the pair had “partially admitted” their role in the theft during interrogation. Later, five additional suspects were apprehended on Thursday.

The first two men arrested were charged with theft and criminal conspiracy after “partially admitting to the charges”, Beccau said. They are suspected of being the two who broke into the gallery while two accomplices waited outside.

(with inputs from agencies)