Editor’s Note
This article reveals that a 2018 security audit for the Louvre, commissioned by Van Cleef & Arpels, specifically identified the balcony access method later used in the October 19th heist. It raises significant questions about whether the findings were adequately addressed.
A 2018 security audit conducted for the Louvre Museum by the high jewelry house Van Cleef & Arpels precisely indicated the possibility of accessing the museum’s balcony using a forklift—the same method used by thieves in the spectacular jewelry heist on October 19, according to the French press.
The newspaper Le Monde reported Tuesday night that the 2018 audit warned with precision about the possibility of reaching that balcony, which belongs to the Apollo Gallery. According to the report, “two pages and three visual diagrams specifically address the balcony overlooking the Apollo Gallery,” and its authors “insist, in their text, on the window facing the Quai François-Mitterrand, which they describe as ‘one of the establishment’s greatest vulnerabilities’.”
The report mentions access to the railing from the ground. To illustrate their concerns, the Van Cleef & Arpels experts “even mention, in a visual document, the hypothesis of criminals using a lifting basket,” according to the newspaper.
The management of the famous museum, contacted by AFP on Tuesday night, had no comment at this time. However, they had told Le Monde that they only learned of this report’s existence after the robbery.
The current management, led by Laurence des Cars since 2021, assured the newspaper that these documents, commissioned by the previous team led by Jean-Luc Martinez, “were not communicated” at the time of the handover. Le Monde was unable to speak with Martinez.
The report also specified, with images, that surveillance cameras near the balcony did not fully cover this access, according to the newspaper.
Some details of this study correspond to the modus operandi used by the gang that day: using a forklift, they managed to access the balcony of the Apollo Gallery and, with a circular saw, broke the window and entered the space to steal eight jewels from the French Crown. The pieces, with an estimated value of about $100 million, are still missing.
More than a month after the spectacular robbery, two men and two women were arrested as part of the investigation, adding to the four people already charged in this case, the prosecutor’s office reported on Tuesday.
