TEFAF jewellery heist

Description

On the day of the heist, four men dressed in suits used hammers to smash the glass display cases at the stand of the London jeweller Symbolic & Chase. No-one was injured in the heist. The men fled, taking with them several pieces of jewellery, including an extremely valuable necklace.

A large-scale investigation team was set up, and some 20 investigators started working on the investigation.

July 2022 - Opsporing NL

In July 2022, the heist was covered by Dutch investigative tv programme Opsporing NL. In the programme, footage of the suspects was shown, as well as the entry and escape routes.

The programme yielded a lot of information, leading to several concrete tips. These tips concerned the possible identity of the suspects and the location where the stolen jewellery might be being hidden.

Four suspects
It is assumed that four male suspects were involved in the heist: The suspect in the middle, at the bottom of the image – wearing a dark hat, white dress shirt and brown tie – and the suspect to the far right of the image – clean-shaven, wearing a dark jacket, white dress shirt, dark tie and glasses, and holding an entrance ticket – seem in fact to be the same person.

March 2023 – Investigation points to the Balkans

In March 2023, the police announced that investigative findings pointed in the direction of a specific group of suspects from the Balkans.

The investigation focused on the analysis of available footage, witness statements, forensic traces, escape routes, whereabouts, and getaway vehicles.
The investigation is unusually international in scope. Under Europol direction, a collaboration has been set up with several European countries where similar heists have taken place. An investigation of this kind takes time, as an official request for legal assistance is required for all information requested from other countries.

March 2023 – Jewel recovered

The investigation focuses not only on the suspects, but also on the stolen jewels. One jewel was recovered and it was subsequently established that it was stolen during the heist. In March 2023, the leader of the investigation revealed that the jewel recovered was not the well-known large yellow diamond. However, the recovery of the jewel did enable the investigation team to make important progress in the investigation.

March 2023 – Reward

In March 2023, the investigation department of the insurance company Charles Taylor Adjusting offered a reward of 500,000 pounds. The Netherlands Police and the Public Prosecution Service have no involvement with this reward, but are in frequent contact with the insurance company about this topic.

Mid-24 – Important progress in the investigation

Mid-24, the Netherlands Police announced that important progress had been made in the investigation.

Diamonds

Two diamonds from the stolen necklace have been recovered.

One diamond was found in Israel, the other in Hong Kong. Both diamonds were seized for further investigation.

The total value of the robbed jewellery amounts to tens of millions of dollars.
 

Three women.

The investigation has made clear that one woman can also be linked to the heist as a suspect. Moreover, two other women came to the fore when they returned one of the rental vehicles to a car rental company near Frankfurt airport, Germany. They are not currently suspects in the criminal investigation into the heist. However, their role in returning the getaway vehicle is being investigated.

The woman in the passenger seat has been linked to the heist.

Rental vehicles
Before and after the heist, the suspects made use of rental vehicles. The police have since tracked down, seized, and forensically examined these vehicles.

It was found that on 5 June 2022, a woman rented a vehicle from a car rental company near Frankfurt airport, Germany. This vehicle was a Kia Ceed. The vehicle was returned by two other women on 2 July 2022.

At Charleroi airport, Belgium, another vehicle was rented by one of the male suspects. This vehicle, an Opel Astra, was rented on 22 June 2022 and was returned to a car rental company in Vienna, Austria, by an unknown person on 1 July 2022.

On 28 June 2022 – the day of the heist – both the Kia Ceed and the Opel Astra were parked on the carpark at Salernolaan in Maastricht, a few hundred metres from the event venue MECC.

It emerged that the rental vehicles were being used by the suspects throughout the rental period.

Speeding violations

Investigation showed that prior to the heist speeding violations were committed in Germany with both cars. The speeding violations with the Kia Ceed took place in Neustadt on 6 June 2022, while the Opel Astra was caught speeding in Leverkusen on 26 June 2022. Camera footage is available for both speeding violations.

Liège and Verviers
The suspects stayed in Belgium before and after the heist, including in Liège and Verviers. In Verviers, they stayed at a hotel and in Liège in accommodation rented via an online platform. Afterwards they fled to Serbia via Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and other countries.

Serbia

The investigation team has leads that provide an increasingly clear picture of the whereabouts of the suspects before and after the heist, as well as where they may currently be staying.
It was published previously that the suspects come from the Balkans. It has since become clear that they come from Serbia, more particularly from the town of Nis. It cannot be ruled out that the suspects are currently located there, or in Belgrade or the surrounding area.

Rewards

Charles Taylor Adjusting, the insurance company’s investigation agency, is already offering a 500,000 Pound reward. In addition to this reward, a second reward of 20,000 euro has now been offered by the Limburg district court public prosecutor's office (NL) for the person who can provide information or clues that lead to identification of the perpetrators of the robbery at the MECC Maastricht conference centre committed on 28 June.

Urgent call for information
The team would like to get into contact with:
 

• Anyone who knows the true identity of the individuals in the footage.
• Anyone who knows where the suspects are currently staying or have information about their whereabouts in recent months. These may be locations in Serbia or other countries.
• Anyone who has information about the locations in Liège and Verviers that were visited by the suspects before and after the heist on 28 June 2022. If the suspects were seen in Liège, Verviers, or any other location, the investigation team would like to hear about this.
• Anyone who knows the identity of the individuals on the speed violation footage made in Neustadt, Germany, on 6 June 2022 and in Leverkusen, Germany, on 26 June 2022. Information about their current or past whereabouts would of course also be appreciated.
• The two women who returned one of the rental vehicles to the car rental company in Frankfurt.
• Anyone who has information about the two women who returned the rental vehicle in Frankfurt. Who are these two women?
• Anyone who has any information they have not shared before.

How to share information:
 

• A dedicated email address for sharing information and footage: Tefaf@politie.nl
   
• A dedicated phone number set up by the Netherlands Police for information about the TEFAF heist, available 24/7: +31611382542. Informers can also call this number free of charge through Viber or WhatsApp
   
• Police tip-off line:
  From within the Netherlands (free of charge) 0800-6070
  From abroad (local rate): +3179 - 3459800
   
• To share information without your name being included in the criminal file, call TNI (National Intelligence Team) (local rate): +3188 - 661 77 34

To share information anonymously via M:
From within the Netherlands: 0800-7000
From abroad: +31 800 7000.