Another High-Profile Heist at Paris Mimics the Antics of a Pink Panther Film

As if the French weren’t shocked enough earlier this year with the theft of the crown jewels from the Louvre, a Paris prosecutor is now taking to trial three men accused of stealing thousands of euros worth of silver service from the French president’s official residence, Élysée Palace.The items, including porcelain, copper saucepans, Sèvres porcelain, a René Lalique statuette, and Baccarat champagne coupes, are valued at about $17,500-$47,000. According to Le Parisien, investigators say the steward, whose official title is chief treasurer to the president of the Republic, had been stealing from the official collection since 2024 and fudging inventory records. The man had been in a relationship with an antiques dealer who persuaded him to fence the goods to a Versailles-based collector of porcelain. “He probably lost himself in the passion that drove him,” the steward’s lawyer, Thomas Malvolti, reportedly said in defense of his client.The collector had been a room guard at the Louvre. All three were arrested and confessed. During the investigation, police found about 100 items in the silver steward’s locker, vehicle, and home. They were among several ashtrays and plates stamped with official monikers that were being auctioned online through sites like Vinted, a peer‑to‑peer resale platform like Poshmark or eBay, which sells accessories and home items.The Sèvres Manufactory, which supplies the official furnishings for the palace, identified the pieces forged in 2018 and part of a half million-dollar collection. The discovery led to questioning of staff by police. In all, it took nearly two years for the head steward of the palace to realize the thefts had been occurring.The three defendants will face trial in February for stealing items that are considered part of the national heritage, among other charges — an offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a 150,000 euro fine, per the French penal code. The men have been placed under judicial supervision, banned from contacting one another, prohibited from appearing at auction venues, and barred from their professional activities. The steward resigned from his position in November.The items are now back at Elysée Palace, but the sting is still fresh following the October arrests by French police of seven individuals who allegedly stole eight bejeweled pieces — valued at roughly $102 million — from the Louvre. In that imaginative heist, the intruders used a basket lift to scale the Louvre’s façade, force open a window, smash display cases, and flee in what the museum’s director called a “terrible failure” of security.

Another High-Profile Heist at Paris Mimics the Antics of a Pink Panther Film

Another High-Profile Heist at Paris Mimics the Antics of a Pink Panther Film

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