Twelve days after a daring jewelry heist at the Louvre Museum, an Israeli security company said the thieves behind the theft reached out to it, offering to secretly negotiate the sale of the stolen pieces through the darknet.
CGI Group, an Israeli security firm, said the Louvre’s management ignored the offer, even after the thieves provided apparent proof that they held some of the stolen jewels.
The company said the thieves demanded tens of millions of euros for the items. French media, meanwhile, reported that authorities have arrested five additional suspects, but the stolen jewelry remains missing.
Tzvika Naveh, CEO of CGI Group, said the company received an encrypted message through its website five days after the October 19 heist from a person claiming to represent the thieves. “He offered to negotiate with us on the darknet for the purchase of the stolen pieces, limiting contact to just 24 hours,” Naveh said.
The firm engaged in a series of encrypted chats with the representative and received indications that he indeed possessed at least some of the stolen items, Naveh said. “They were on the run and needed to get rid of the loot quickly,” he added. The company said it forwarded the information to the client that hired it, who in turn notified Louvre management.
Naveh criticized the museum for failing to respond for six days. “We lost credibility with the thieves, and the Louvre missed a real opportunity to recover the jewelry,” he said. “Unfortunately, it seems ego and hesitation played a role.”
Naveh said he had warned months earlier, in an interview with Italy’s Il Tempo newspaper, about darknet discussions suggesting plans to rob the Louvre, possibly targeting the “Mona Lisa.”
The Louvre Museum has denied any direct contact with CGI Group. The company maintains that communication took place through its Italian branch and that it was likely contracted by an insurance entity associated with the museum.
The October 19 heist saw masked burglars break into the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery and steal jewelry from the Napoleonic collection, including pieces belonging to Empress Eugénie and Empress Marie Louise. The items are valued at more than $100 million.
No injuries were reported during the theft. French authorities said two suspects were initially arrested, one at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris as he tried to board a flight to Algeria and another later in the Paris area.