The broad-daylight looting by a lone thief of precious
jewelry on exhibition at the Carlton Hotel was France's biggest ever gem theft.
"A reward of up to 1,000,000 euros pro rata is offered
to the first person who provides information which leads to recovery of the
goods," SW Associates, a Paris-based loss adjuster and risk manager
working for Lloyd's of London, said in a statement.
The statement, with photographs of two diamond rings, a
brooch and a necklace from among the stolen pieces, will be published in Le
Parisien, Nice-Matin and the International Herald Tribune newspapers on
Wednesday, SW Associates Managing Director John Shaw told Reuters.
He said it was hoped the reward was enough to encourage a
witness, a person close to the robbers or someone who has been approached to
buy the jewels to come forward with information.
Any payout would take time. "We have to get the jewelry
back first, evaluate the value of the recovered jewelry and then, once the
police is satisfied we're not about to recompense the robbers, we can arrange
the payment," Shaw said.
The heist took place around midday when a thief wearing a
cap and scarf and armed with an automatic pistol burst into the Carlton,
threatened security guards and sales staff and left moments later with a
briefcase containing 72 pieces of jewelry from a collection belonging to
diamond specialist Leviev.
In 2008, SW Associates offered a $1 million reward for
information about a $105 million jewel heist from the Harry Winston store in
Paris and recovered more than half the stolen pieces thanks to a person coming
forward. ($1 = 0.7553 euros)
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