Two new suspects were initially charged on Saturday in connection with the crown jewels at the Louvre museum, a Paris prosecutor said, after police arrested them as part of an investigation into the purge.
A 37-year-old suspect was charged with theft by an organized group and criminal conspiracy, prosecutor Lore Bekou said. He was known to authorities for previous burglaries, the statement said.
The second suspect, a 38-year-old woman, was accused of being an accomplice. They were both imprisoned.
Both denied involvement, the prosecutor said.
The woman’s lawyer, Adrian Sorrentino, told reporters his client is “devastated” as she disputes the allegations.
“He does not understand how he is involved in any of the elements he is accused of,” he said.
The jewelery has not been recovered
The jewels stolen on Oct. 19—worth about $102 million—have not been recovered, including a diamond and emerald necklace Napoleon gave to Empress Marie Louise as a wedding gift, tied with 19th-century queens Marie Amelie and Hortense, and Empress Eugenie, officials said.
Police on Wednesday arrested five people in connection with the case, including one linked to the robbery by DNA. The man is suspected of belonging to a four-man team that used a freight lift truck to enter the Louvre. Prosecutors did not specify whether the man was among those charged on Saturday.
The three others have been released without charge, Bekwau said.
Two earlier suspects, men aged 34 and 39 from Auber Villiers, north of Paris, were charged this week with theft by an organized group and criminal conspiracy.
Bekko said the two gave “minimal” statements and “partially admitted” their involvement. It is believed to be the two men who forced their way into the Apollo Gallery. One was stopped at Charles de Gaulle airport with a one-way ticket to Algeria. Its DNA matched the scooter used in Gateway.
About 100 investigators are involved
Neither the names nor extensive biographical details of the suspects were released.
Information about the investigation is intended to be confidential under French law, to avoid compromising police work and to ensure victims’ right to privacy, a policy known as the “Confidentiality Directive”.
Earlier this week, Bacau praised an “extraordinary dynamic” — about 100 investigators, seven days a week, analyzed about 150 forensic samples and sealed 189 items as evidence.
It took the robbers less than 8 minutes to steal the jewelry. The team of four used a freight elevator, allowing two of them to force their way through a window and cut into two display cases with a disc cutter, before escaping on four scooters to eastern Paris. Only the “close-up” arrival of police and museum security prevented the thieves from torching the elevator and destroying key evidence, the prosecutor said.
Investigators said there is no sign of insider help yet, though they are not ruling out a wider network beyond the four on camera.
In a separate case, six people were arrested Thursday following a robbery at a gold refining laboratory in the city of Lyon in which the thieves used explosives, Interior Minister Laurent Neuss said. The loot, valued at 12 million euros ($13.9 million), has been recovered, News on X said.
Photo: A soldier patrols the courtyard of the Louvre Museum, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, in Paris. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
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