Two suspects in Louvre robbery brought before judge for formal charges

Two men accused of stealing €88 million worth of jewels from Paris’ Louvre Museum have been charged and remanded in custody, as investigators continue to search for the missing treasures.

Two suspects in last month’s brazen daylight robbery of the Louvre Museum in Paris were brought before a judge this week to face formal charges, French media reported on Saturday. The Paris prosecutor’s office said the men, aged 34 and 39, have been charged with organised robbery and conspiracy to commit a crime and have been held in pre-trial detention since Wednesday.

BFMTV reported that the two men are suspected of being the ones who entered the museum and stole the jewels, and they have “partially admitted to the facts,” according to prosecutor Laure Beccuau. Two initial arrests took place on 25 October, followed by five new arrests announced on Thursday, while several other people detained earlier have since been released.

The theft, carried out in broad daylight on 19 October, saw eight pieces taken from the museum’s collection. Among the stolen items are a necklace and an earring from the Marie-Louise collection, a necklace, a pair of earrings, and a tiara from the Marie-Amelie and Hortense collections, as well as two brooches, including a reliquary brooch, a bodice bow, and a tiara from Empress Eugenie’s collection.

The jewels, estimated to be worth €88 million ($102.3 million), remain missing. The investigation into the high-profile theft—described as one of the most audacious art crimes in recent French history—is still ongoing, as authorities attempt to trace the stolen pieces and determine the full extent of the network behind the heist.

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