Heist at the Louvre Episode 4: Diamonds Are Forever

Hi, this is James Longman here with the. final episode of our four-part series. Heist at the Louvre. If you haven't. heard the rest of the series, it's the. perfect time to go back and listen. And. you can do that right here, or listen. ad-free on Apple Podcasts when you. subscribe to 2020 True Crime Plus. Click. the link in the description to learn. more. Now, here's the finale. Okay. Imagine you're one of the Louvre. thieves for a moment, back on October. 19th of 2025. You've just stolen a hundred million.

dollars worth of crown jewels. In a. little bag, you've got emeralds and. sapphires and thousands of diamonds. You're on motorized scooters fleeing the. scene, the sirens behind you are growing. more and more faint. And it's not yet. 10:00 a.m. on a quiet Sunday morning. Where do you go? Six days passed between the heist and. the first arrest. That would leave. plenty of time for the thieves to get to. the diamond capital of the world.

>> Uh, Paris and Antwerp is not that far. from each other. Uh, there are. certainly, uh, contacts, uh, the language. >> This is Achim De Brouwer. former commissioner of Antwerp's Federal. Judicial Police. I met him in the diamond district of. Antwerp. It's a city with about the same. population as Milwaukee, and it's in the. north of Belgium. >> Uh, so everything is, uh, located in. this square mile, as they say. >> Okay. It's a whole world, isn't it?

We were on Hoveniersstraat, a long, narrow street with gray buildings on. either side. It doesn't really look like. much until you notice all the CCTV. cameras, the private security guards, and the police patrolling everywhere. We. are right in the center of the diamond. world. And it's a stone's throw from the. main train station, where there is a. direct train from Paris every hour. Is there a chance that they come through. Antwerp?

>> At a certain point, yes. Probably not. immediately. >> All around us were shops and offices. with a similar logo, a silhouette of a. diamond. If someone wanted to sell the French. Crown Jewels, this would be a pretty. good and incredibly convenient place to. do it. The whole supply chain of the industry. is here. Raw, uncut diamonds, freshly. mined, arrive daily to be shaped and. faceted. Antique are sent here to be repolished. And then, just around the corner, are.

jeweler shops with big windows. >> So, here you actually see the the final. product, the rings, the necklaces. >> Ahim spent his career investigating the. dark side of this industry, theft, illegal trading, money laundering. Beneath the surface of this bustling. market, there are secrets to. investigate. And that is why I came. here. Because how does someone get rid of a. hundred million dollars worth of jewels. without being noticed?

>> [music]. >> Assuming, of course, that they want to. get rid of them at all. In this episode, the journey of the. jewels, where they've gone, and who. might have them. And if the police. >> [music]. >> can't find them, then a very special. expert might get a call. >> [music]. >> From ABC Audio, this is Heist at the. Louvre. Episode four, Diamonds are forever.

Now, before we dive into the seedy. underworld of illicit diamond sales, there is one theory that we haven't. talked about yet, and I wouldn't be. doing my job if I didn't give it just a. little airtime. It's the private. collector theory, or as I like to call. it, the Dr. No theory. In this scenario, the jewels don't get. sold. Let me explain. Dr. No was the first ever James Bond. film back in 1962. Sean Connery is Bond.

and it's all set on a remote island. [music]. And by the way, it is the first movie. where we get to hear Bond's iconic drink. order. >> Dry martini, lemon peel, shaken not. stirred. >> Vodka? >> Of course. >> Now, the moment that everyone talks. about and the reason for this theory is. towards the end of the movie. So, we're. gearing up for the big showdown fight. and the villain, Dr. No, has forced. James Bond down into his secret. underground lair for cocktails and. chitchat. >> You won't get away with it this time,

Dr. No. The Americans are prepared for. any trouble. >> I never fail, Mr. Bond. >> [snorts]. >> As Bond and Dr. No walk through this. opulent criminal hideout, a painting. catches Bond's eye. He pauses for a. moment, looks at it, raises his eyebrows. in mild surprise, and keeps walking. He was looking at a portrait of the Duke. of Wellington, which was painted by. Francisco Goya. And this subtle moment, this is a total Easter egg for viewers.

Because the real Goya portrait of the. Duke of Wellington was stolen the year. before this movie came out. In 1961, someone had taken it from the wall of. the National Gallery in London. >> [music]. >> So, seeing it in Dr. No's lair is like a. fun inside joke for anybody who knew. about that theft, like Dr. No had been. behind it all along. The painting was recovered a few years. after this movie was released, but the. idea that Dr. No types are out there.

collecting the treasures of the world. for their personal enjoyment in. underground bunkers, >> [music]. >> well, that idea stuck. That's why after the Louvre heist, experts I spoke to kept telling me about. this theory that the thieves had stolen. the jewelry for a collector, maybe some. kind of Napoleon aficionado, someone. who'd wanted the jewelry all to. themselves. And I have to be honest, this is my favorite theory. It's the one. that I believe, or at least want to.

believe the most. But Ahhim De Braca isn't convinced. >> I'm not very, uh, how can I say? I don't. I don't believe in that option because, uh, imagine that you are. >> He says the way the heist happened, the. smash and grab of it all, fits more with. the MO of a criminal gang. He thinks the. theft wasn't about a Napoleon-obsessed. collector, it was about money. He thinks that whoever has the jewels. will likely lay low for a while and then. try to sell them.

>> Yeah, then the the difficult part of. their work is going to start now because. that is is not so easy. >> Now, if it is about money, it would make. more sense to sell the jewels on the. legitimate market. They're obviously. worth much more there. But, as you might. expect, that market is governed by some. pretty strict guidelines. Only. officially registered companies are. allowed to operate in the diamond. district, and a diamond industry. official I spoke to here told me that. every diamond has individual paperwork.

Think of it a little bit like a. passport. She said each jewel is. meticulously checked. She thought it was. almost impossible for the stolen Louvre. jewels to find their way back into the. legal supply chain here. Ahhim says it. is absolutely possible. >> Eventually, if you want to certify your. stones, if you want to repolish those. stones, you need specialists to, uh, polish. them. And those specialists you will. still find here in Antwerp.

>> Polishing is the term in the industry. for shaving off the top layer of a. diamond's surface and reshaping it. It. restores the jewel's shine and. brilliance. >> context, but the problem is as soon as. you need polishers, as soon as you need. middleman, as soon as you need extra. people to help you, to facilitate you, to make sure that you can. sell these stones, that are all weak. points. >> Ahim says that if the thieves came to.

Antwerp to sell these stones, they would. need contacts [music]. that they could trust. People who might. know exactly where these jewels come. from, but don't care. >> The diamond industry doesn't have a very. good reputation for. whistleblowing and pointing out people. who are engaging in that kind of. behavior. >> This is Alan Martin. He's the head of. responsible sourcing at the London. Bullion Market Association in Canada. He says the thieves or a supposed. mastermind would have known in advance. who might be willing to help them.

>> They would know who. would be, you know, ready to ask less questions. >> He said that finding someone like that. in Antwerp or even in France wouldn't. actually be that hard. And he said that. if these jewels are sold on, they'd be. unlikely to stay in their original. settings in necklaces or tiaras. >> I mean, I had a bike stolen a few years. ago uh during COVID and. and the cops eventually um. called me and said, "Oh, we found your. bike." I got really excited and I. thought I was getting my bike back and.

then I when I went to the pound to get. it, it was literally just like it was a. frame because of the supply chain. uh issues of during the pandemic that. selling my gears and brakes and whatever. else was was actually more lucrative. than selling the whole bike. So, I think that's probably the same. thing that will be happening with the. diamonds. >> To me at [music] least, it's kind of a. horrible thought that these items that. played such a role in French history, however small, might be broken apart. I. think that's probably why I like the Dr. No theory so much. If a Bond villain. collector is behind all this, at least.

it means the jewels stay together. >> Thing is, you got to realize that the. the people the criminals don't any. sentimentality about these like being. Napoleon's jewelries. They don't really. they really don't care. It's like it's. like am I going to get paid or not? >> [music]. >> The jewels, if sold in the legitimate. market, Alan says, would need to be. unrecognizable. They might even be. remade into new jewelry. And this idea. really blows my mind. There's every. chance that they could end up in jewelry.

in a neighborhood store near you. Let's take for example the brooch that. was taken. It had 2 and 1/2 thousand. diamonds on it. Eventually, those. individual diamonds could end up in. rings like this. >> And that is that is it. I mean, if you. look at how many. >> In Antwerp, as I stood in the heart of. the diamond district, I noticed that all. around us on the street were men in. suits carrying briefcases and boxes. moving from one building to another.

It seemed very likely that these men. were part of the trade of precious. jewels, transporting them from one stage. of the process to the next. There's. every chance that a box like that could. be coming down this street with the. French crown jewels in it. >> Correct. >> Ready to go into one of these buildings. for repolishing, recutting, >> and then shipped all over the world. >> And then they're lost. >> And then they're lost forever. >> Now, as far as we know, the jewels could. already be sold. They could be long.

gone. Two of the suspects in custody. reportedly say they don't know where the. jewels are and that they were last seen. in the hands of the man who they say. ordered the whole thing. But that's where another theory comes. into play. The Pink Panther theory. >> [music]. >> Right now, four suspects are sitting in.

jail and you'd think police have them. right where they want them. Well, not. exactly. Because if the thieves haven't. given any more information than what we. saw from their reported interviews with. investigators, then there's a lot we. still might not know. Like if a mastermind did order the heist. at the Louvre, who are they? And where. are they now? In my reporting, I've heard from lots of. different people. And you know what? A. lot of them have the same theory about.

who they think is really pulling the. strings behind the scenes. >> [music]. >> Now, when you think of a syndicate or. group of people that get together and do. a lot of jobs, you think of maybe the. Pink Panthers. >> Pink Panthers, totally their modus. operandi. >> Crazy botched Pink Panther caper. >> Now, you might not have heard of the. Pink Panthers, but they're a notorious. gang of bandits who are responsible for. hundreds of jewel thefts in 20. countries. [music]. And it was a stunt from one of their.

early thefts that gave the inspiration. for their name. In a 1975 detective movie called The. Return of the Pink Panther, a large. diamond is stolen and it's hidden away. in a jar of face cream. It's that cold. cream, the kind your grandma might have. worn overnight. Even if you haven't seen. the movie, I'm pretty sure you'll know. the theme song. >> [music]. >> Decades after that movie came out in the.

early 2000s, a gang pulled off a heist. on a jewelry shop in London. They stole. a huge diamond. And what did they do. with it? They hid it in a jar of cold cream. It didn't take long for people to rename. those thieves the Pink Panthers, and. they've been called that ever since. Now, a lot of their heists are pure. cinema. Disguises, guns, speedboat. getaways. They've developed a reputation. as the most prolific gang of jewel.

thieves, but the origins of this group. aren't in Hollywood. >> [music]. >> They come from the Balkan states of. Eastern Europe. Exactly where, according. to reports in French media, the suspect. we're calling motorbike claimed the. mastermind was from. And the idea of these prolific jewel. thieves being somehow connected to the. case is interesting. So, I went back to. the experts to find out what they. thought. >> Do you know about the Pink Panthers? >> Yeah. >> Remember Alain Bauer, the only.

criminology professor in France? Do you think they could have done this? >> No. No, no. They are professionals. Really. I think they are extremely. uh. annoyed not to have think about it. >> Cuz it looked so easy. >> Yeah. So, I think they are pissed off. not to have done it. >> Alain wasn't the only one who thought. the heist didn't have the Pink Panthers'. signature style. Back in November 2025,

the Paris prosecutor said that. investigators believe the Louvre heist. was the work of what they called petty. criminals, not some organized crime. syndicate. >> You know, reality is. less interesting than Hollywood. >> Tim Carpenter, former FBI. >> Most art crimes are committed by. uh. untrained amateurist thieves that uh. get It's mostly a crime of opportunity, right? They stumble across an. opportunity and they try to exploit it.

>> And Tim says that having a suspect in. custody doesn't guarantee that they'll. lead you to the stolen art, far from it, actually. >> I worked a case years ago down in Miami. I won't get into details of that case, but let's just suffice to say that we. uh [clears throat] you know, we. encountered the subject, we detained. him. >> This guy was accused of stealing a. painting, and Tim felt good about the. evidence they had against him. So, when. they brought him in, he got right to the. point. >> And uh you know, I was having a.

conversation with him. I look, I just. really want to know where the painting. is. Just tell me where the painting is. And he smiled at me and said that he. asked me if I knew how much the painting. was worth. >> Tim knew it was around a million. dollars. Tim said the guy just smiled and said, "Then why would I tell you where it is?". >> He's like, "Just put me in jail. I'll be out. And then I've got this million-dollar. painting.". Then what do you do with that, right? You just look at him and say, "Well, okay. Best of luck to you.".

>> Tim says this is actually pretty common. People willing to just go to jail and. wait it out, hoping that when they get. released, a payday is waiting for them. >> That's that set of scales where they're. trying to weigh it. Does it make sense. to cooperate and return it, or am I. better off sitting on it, you know, for. a decade, hoping everybody forgets about. it? >> Tim says the the reason they're prepared. to wait is because prison sentences for. stealing from museums aren't very long. in France or the United States. When I.

spoke to Alain Bauer, our French. criminologist, he predicted that the. Louvre heisters are likely looking at. six to eight years in jail if they're. convicted. If the jewels are never. found, that's pretty good rate of. return. Just a few years in prison for a. share in a $100 million haul. That's why for an investigator like Tim, the hope is that he can find the stolen. art before the day of release. >> We don't stop looking. All right, that's that's one of the. flaws in their logic is they think, "Well, the heat's going to die off and.

nobody's going to be looking." No, no, we're we keep looking. So, best of luck. to you. It'll surface eventually, and. and we'll get you then. >> Now, with a closed investigation, all. these theories, Dr. No, Pink Panthers, they're just that, theories. Investigators haven't released any new. information about where they think the. jewels might be. And Tim does say that the French police. might still be keeping an ace up their. sleeve. >> Maybe the police have already recovered. those jewels and just haven't told any.

of you about it because it's. part of their investigative strategy. >> Eventually, these suspected thieves will. face trial. And when they do, we may. learn a lot more. Maybe my Dr. No theory will turn out to. be right after all. But if we don't know. where the jewels are by then, it might be time to call in the art. detective. >> [music].

>> Welcome to the last chapter of our. story, the what if. Because now we ask, what if the jewels don't resurface? What if years pass and there's no more. leads left to follow? What then? >> [music]. >> I think that I'm pretty good in what I. do. It's not because I'm so talented or. extremely intelligence. It's just. because I'm stubborn and I keep on. going, you know? >> This is Arthur Brand. He investigates. cases where the trail has gone cold.

People call Arthur the Indiana Jones of. the art world. He's not so sure. >> What's the name of the actor? Harrison. Ford. He is nice looking, you know? I'm. I'm average, probably. So, um. I'm just [music] a normal guy who try to. track down stolen art. >> He's recovered stolen paintings by Van. Gogh, Picasso, Salvador Dali, and a lot. more besides. >> As a matter of fact, I have in in a room. next to me, I have a painting which was.

stolen in World War II. Everybody thinks. it's it has been destroyed. Uh there are only black and white. pictures existing and um I have it here. in color, you know, in my room, the real. piece. >> For now, Arthur says he isn't involved. in the Louvre case, but that might. change. >> If they don't confess where the stuff. is, then I might get a call from from the. French saying, "Arthur, as you know, we. are still looking for this these these. diamonds. If you hear anything, let us.

know.". >> Now, this art detective stuff isn't. actually what he does for a living. His. day job is advising clients about what. art to buy. The rest of it is just a. hobby. And it can be a dangerous one. Take. organized crime bosses, add millions of. dollars worth of stolen art, and a dash. of paranoia, and it is a dangerous. cocktail. When a heist happens, Arthur says he. usually knows about it pretty quickly. And then he gets to work. >> First, the police calls me and says,

"Arthur, there is there's been this museum heist. this night. Let's go for it. You do your. job, we do our job." And then I start to. call my informant. >> These informants are contacts he's. gathered over the years, relationships. he's developed with some pretty scary. people. Arthur's web of informants helps. him span two very different worlds. There's the official side of things, working with police, feeding them. information. And then there's the unofficial, filled.

with criminal gangs, mafia bosses, and. masterminds. Arthur is the link between them, and he. can cover a lot of ground that the. police can't. >> I know a lot of criminals, and some of them they know each other. So, if I have a lead, then I go to other. criminals and I ask them, "Do you know. this guy? And if you know him, tell him. I want to talk to him." And always after. a couple of days, I get a call from that.

particular person telling, "What's up?". And then the game begins. >> The game, as Arthur describes it, sounds. more like Whac-A-Mole. When a lead pops. up, there's this brief window where a. priceless, totally unique piece of art. or historical artifact reappears, and he. has to chase it down before it. disappears again. And it's not just hardened criminals who. reach out. Now that he has a reputation. for his work, all sorts of people call.

him up. >> Most of the people who call me are. and I'm sorry to say this but are. ex-wives and ex-girlfriends. A few weeks. ago, I got these pictures of a stolen. painting hanging somewhere on a wall and. I asked this woman, "Where is it?" And. she gave me the address. And I said, "Are you sure?" And she said, "Yes, because that's the house of my. ex-husband.". >> The more people that divorce, Arthur. says, the better it is for solving art. crimes. Arthur says he never speaks to the.

person who actually did the stealing. It's always someone further on the chain. who suddenly realizes what they have. Maybe they got it in a swap for some. drugs or as collateral in some other. deal. >> They get stuck with it. So, when I approach them and I tell them, "Look, I know you have this piece of art. and I think it's better you give it. back.". You Sometimes you see this look in their. their eyes thinking, "Shall we shoot. him?".

But they never do because I'm not a real. threat. So, as long as I'm not too. annoying, I keep being alive. >> That one conversation with Arthur can. change everything. The problem is the. amount of time it takes for Arthur to. get this one call. It could be a year. It could be 10. Maybe the jewels are stashed away. Maybe. they've been found or maybe they're.

working their way through the legal. jewelry market as we speak, one day. ending up on the third finger of. someone's left hand as a token of. undying love. We don't know, yet. >> My deepest [music]. hope is that these jewels are recovered. intact and are brought back. to Paris and. that we can go back and see them. >> For Jake Parker, >> [music]. >> who was inside the Apollo Gallery with. his wife Holly when the heist began, he. says he's still dreaming of seeing the.

jewels up close. >> That I can pick up where I left off on. that rainy Sunday at 9:34. in the Apollo room, starting with that silly teapot and then. moving on to the rest of of the um. jewels. We'll go back. >> Jake's dream seems unlikely to happen. At the end of July, the Apollo Gallery. reopened to the public. After 9 months, tourists streamed back into the. impressive golden room, but it is very.

different now. It is. completely empty. >> The new Louvre director, Christophe. Leribault, gave a tour to some members. of the press. He told them that the. reason he hoped that people would visit. the gallery now was just to enjoy the. space. >> He said that leaving the room empty was.

an opportunity for visitors to. rediscover the splendid architecture of. the gallery. The remaining jewels, they were gone. The Louvre director said he planned to. create a dedicated secure room to store. them, but that that would take a little. time. You know what a dedicated secure room. sounds like to me? That sounds like a. vault. And perhaps with good reason, because the Louvre heist wasn't an. anomaly. It was actually part of a. trend. Museum theft is up. In fact, even.

while we were writing this series in the. early autumn of 2026, the Renoir Museum. in France was broken into and paintings. stolen. Arthur Brand says it's even worse when. it comes to jewels, silver, and gold. >> What we see in the last 10 years is a. change. Before that, they stole. paintings. In the last 10 years, we see. a shift to to precious metals. Which is. sad because um. you can easily.

get rid of it, you know, without leaving. a trace. >> A month before the Louvre heist, someone. stole golden nuggets from the French. Natural History Museum. On the same day. as the Louvre theft, someone stole a. hoard of gold and silver coins from an. historical museum 300 km away. >> So, it's like copycat, you know? So, I. was. uh very down when I heard that the. Louvre was targeted because. if thieves start to target the Louvre,

maybe the most famous museum in the. world, where does it stop? >> I know that these cases are important. I. know that this trend is bad. People. should not steal, but. we're surrounded by so much bad news, so. much negativity. There's something about. a heist story that you can enjoy in a. weird way. Do you have a favorite heist movie? >> Oof.

Uh that's a good question. >> This is something I wanted to ask our. Louvre security guard, Frederic Serie, about. >> The thing is about heist movies is that. they're always done from the perspective. of the robbers, which means that you you. want the heist to work. The audience. wants the heist to succeed. We watch. Ocean's 11 or any of these other movies, and we don't want the good guys to win. >> [laughter]. >> Yes, exactly. >> So much of the Robin Hood fantasy is. about the characters. It's about the.

people who hold the power. Kings, governments, giant casino bosses. Most of us struggle to identify with. them. And then there's the people without the. power. The thieves become an example. They. prove that any of us can overcome our. circumstances. Someone from a working-class. neighborhood on the edge of Paris can. steal France's crown jewels. And. somehow, even though we know it's wrong, it kind of makes the world feel more.

fair. >> How do you feel about people around the. world watching this? And some of them. this the the sentiment and I was. reporting on it that. good for them. Good for the little guy. They've taken. something and they've beat the system. >> I'm not sure you can say that because uh. I mean, there are not good thieves or. bad thieves. They are just thieves.

>> Frederic says, "It's not really about. who the thieves are. It's what they did. that matters.". >> The Louvre is the national patrimony. It's uh. is the property of the people, but. not only the French people. It's the. property of humanity. So yes, it's a. shame to steal from. uh. the property of everybody in the world. >> For Frederic, the Louvre is not a bank. It's not a big Las Vegas casino. And.

when the thieves broke into the display. cases that day, they weren't stealing. the king's jewels. They were taking a. piece of our shared history and culture. They robbed us. And now, we all might be robbed again. because the treasures of the world may. need to be hidden away for their own. protection. >> I know the perfect museum. The perfect. museum is a safe. If you don't want anything to be to to. to be stolen, uh you put everything in a in a safe,

and that's it. >> [music]. >> I'll be watching for updates in this. story and will be following along with. the suspects' trials to see if their. days in court reveal any new. information. In the meantime, if you hear anything, let me know, [music] won't you?

>> [music]. >> Heist at the Louvre is a production of. ABC Audio, hosted by me, James Longman, produced by Madeleine Wood, Emily Shutt, and Aisha El Hamar Castano, edited by. Nora Ritchie, our supervising producer. is Suzy Lu, mixing by Evan Viola. Special thanks to Katie Dendus, John. Capodaneas, >> [music]. >> Indra De Lay Saharan, Iman Varouqua, Michelle Margulies, and Suzanne De.

Canto. Josh Cohan is our director of podcast. programming, Amon McNiff is our. executive producer.