2 more suspects charged over Louvre heist as investigation widens
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau announced on Saturday that two new suspects had been charged in connection with the Louvre robbery, nearly two weeks after the heist, Xinhua reports.
The suspects are a 37-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman. The man is suspected of having been part of the gang that carried out the robbery and is being prosecuted for organized theft and criminal conspiracy. The woman is being prosecuted for complicity in the crime.
Both have been remanded in custody and deny the charges. Three other people among the five arrested on Wednesday evening have been released without charge at this stage, the prosecutor's office said.
These decisions bring to four the total number of people formally charged since the investigation began. The first two suspects charged in the case had "partially admitted" their involvement.
The loot - a collection of royal jewelry valued at 88 million euros (102 million U.S. dollars) - remains missing. The authorities have not ruled out the possibility that the pieces may have been broken up to facilitate illegal resale abroad.
There are several hypotheses concerning the items, including that they have already been sold abroad. But I remain confident that we will be able to find them, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said in an interview published Saturday by Le Parisien.
On Friday, Culture Minister Rachida Dati pointed to a "chronic and structural underestimation of the risk of intrusion and theft" at the Louvre for more than twenty years. She announced an emergency plan to strengthen security before the end of the year, including new anti-intrusion barriers and upgrades to alarm and video surveillance systems.
The museum's director, Laurence des Cars, offered her resignation after the Louvre heist, but it was rejected.
