Man and woman charged with conspiracy to raid £50m of jewellery from F1 heiress Tamara Ecclestone
1 February 2020, 08:12
A pair have been charged in connection with a £50 million jewellery raid on heiress Tamara Ecclestone's London mansion, Scotland Yard said.
Tower Hamlets residents Maria Mester, 47, and 29-year-old Emil-Bogdan Savastru have both been charged with conspiracy to commit burglary and will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court this morning.
Police said a 21-year-old man arrested at Stansted Airport with Mester on Friday has been released under investigation, as well as a 31-year-old man arrested in east London on Thursday.
Savastru was detained at Heathrow Airport on Thursday afternoon on suspicion of conspiracy to commit burglary and money laundering.
The Met said the arrests were in relation to the burglary in Palace Green, Kensington, on December 13 in which all of Ms Ecclestone's jewellery was reportedly taken.
She was left "angry and shaken" by the incident, according to her father, former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone.
Police said in December they were called to the scene by security at the building, which is next to Hyde Park.
The offenders are believed to have entered through a garden before breaking into safes hidden in the bedroom of the house.
Officers went through CCTV and used sniffer dogs to search the grounds of the property.
The raid happened just after Ms Ecclestone left the country for her Christmas holiday with her husband Jay Rutland and their daughter Sophia.
