Two men who have been charged with stealing €88m (£75m) worth of crown jewels from the Louvre have told investigators that the alleged mastermind believed they “could have taken more”, according to a report.
The suspects, named in French media as Abdoulaye N and Ghelamallah A, shared new details about the infamous burglary during a questioning by two investigating judges last month, the transcript of which was seen by Le Monde.
They claimed a mysterious mastermind had orchestrated their break-in into the Louvre’s Apollo gallery, with both saying they were recruited two or three days before the events.
But the unnamed mastermind was not wholly impressed with their haul following the break-in. "In my bag, I had seven or eight pieces of jewelry [that] I had taken from the display case I had targeted and some jewelry I had taken from [Ghelamallah]'s display case,” Abdoulaye N said.
“The mastermind was not happy. He thought we could have taken more. We lost time getting in through the window."
The mission had been clear, said Abdoulaye N - the 40-year-old unlicensed taxi driver and former internet sensation from the noughties who previously recorded motorbike stunt videos under the name Doudou Cross Bitume.
"Break the windows and grab the jewelry inside the display cases,” was the task, he said. He was recruited because he is “known for riding motorcycles, I'm athletic, energetic, resourceful”, alongside his “not so rosy” past. He was promised up to €20,000 (£17,000), depending on how much was stolen.
Ghelamallah A, a 36-year-old unemployed Algerian man who suffers from Diogenes syndrome, claims he had been told the target was "a jewelry store where they make jewelry in Paris", claiming he would have “never set foot there” if he had known it was the Louvre.
The pair allegedly stole eight pieces of jewelry, including tiaras, a brooch, necklaces and earrings belonging to former French royalty, a haul including more than 8,700 precious stones valued at a record €88 million.
They gained access to a first-floor balcony using a furniture lift, before smashing through the window of the gallery and using a power cutter to break the glass and access the jewels.
On the way out of the museum, they dropped a gem-encrusted crown belonging to Empress Eugénie, the 19th century wife of Napoleon III.
"We were meant to take as many jewels as we could,” said Abdoulaye. “If we stayed more than three minutes, we knew we had to leave or we'd get caught. For me, what we did took too long."
The alleged client had financial motives behind the crime and had planned to resell the stolen jewels, Abdoulayre N said.
Both suspects added that they did not know what had happened to the jewels since, but they also refused to give investigators any hints about the identity of the mastermind or accomplices due to fears of reprisals.
Investigators have not confirmed that the burglars were acting on anyone else’s behalf, Le Monde reported.
