Two more charged in connection with Louvre jewel heist

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PARIS (Reuters) -A woman and a man were placed under formal investigation over the $102 million Louvre Museum jewel heist, the Paris prosecutor said on Saturday, bringing the total number charged in the case to four.

The man, 37, known to police for previous thefts, was charged with organised theft and criminal conspiracy. The woman, 38, was charged with complicity in organised theft and criminal conspiracy.

Three other people who had been arrested on October 29 along with the man and the woman were freed without charge, the prosecutor’s office said.

The two new suspects were brought before investigating judges and remain in pre-trial detention, the prosecutor said. Both deny involvement in the heist.

The prosecutor gave no further details about them, but French media reported that the woman was from La Courneuve, a hardscrabble suburb north of Paris.

The prosecutor said last week that the first two suspects charged in the case had “partially admitted” their involvement.

They included a 34-year-old Algerian who has lived in France since 2010 and was detained by police as he tried to board a flight to Algeria, and a 39-year-old who was already under judicial supervision in an aggravated theft case. Both live in Aubervilliers, a low-income neighbourhood in northern Paris.

The prosecutor said that investigations are continuing. So far, no trace has been found of the stolen jewels.

Two weeks ago, two hooded thieves used a movers’ lift to reach a second-floor window, smashed the jewels’ display cases using power tools, and fled on the back of scooters driven by two accomplices. The heist has sent shockwaves around the world as it exposed security flaws at the world’s most-visited museum.

(Reporting by Geert De ClercqEditing by Peter Graff)