In a brazen heist, a masked man allegedly armed with a pistol walked into the legendary Carlton Hotel in Cannes, France, and stole about $53 million of jewels that were being set up for display. NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports.
By Michelle Kosinski and Alastair Jamieson, NBC News
CANNES, France - Police were looking Monday for a man in a mask who stole $53 million worth of diamonds and other jewels from a glamorous French Riviera hotel in one?of Europe's biggest and boldest jewelry heists in recent years.
The audacious raid prompted one security expert to speculate that the notorious "Pink Panther" jewel thief gang was "on the warpath again."
The lone robber walked into the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in Cannes late morning Sunday and demanded to be handed several bags containing jewels and diamond-encrusted watches.
"Everything happened very quickly," a judicial source told Reuters, adding that there was no violence.
The hotel, a haunt of the rich and famous, was where Alfred Hitchcock filmed scenes from the 1955 film "To Catch a Thief", starring Cary Grant as burglar alongside Grace Kelly.
It was hosting a temporary jewelry exhibit over the summer from the prestigious Leviev diamond house, which is owned by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev.
The heist came two months after two smaller jewelry robberies hit the annual Cannes film festival, where many of the world's top movie stars are lent gowns and gems to parade on the red carpets and at glamorous parties.
The crime follows recent jail escapes by Pink Panther gang members.
Jonathan Sazonoff, U.S. editor for the Museum Security Network website and an authority on high-value crime, told The Associated Press that police would likely probe whether the heist is linked to the escapes.
On Thursday, gang member Milan Poparic escaped his Swiss prison after accomplices rammed a gate and overpowered guards with bursts from their AK-47s.
"The brazen drama of it is their style... The possibility of the reemergence of the Pink Panther gang is very troubling and taken seriously by law enforcement worldwide," Sazonoff said. "The theft of high value diamonds is exactly what they do, so it's not a great leap to assume they are on the warpath again. They are a crime wave waiting to happen."
France has seen only one theft larger than this one ? the raid of a store in Paris in 2008 that netted more than $100 million worth of gems and jewelry.
"It's a huge theft,? Sazonoff told The AP. ?Anytime you talk about a heist with many millions of dollars it turns heads and feeds the imagination.?
In a statement seen by Reuters, Leviev said: "Company officials are cooperating with local authorities investigating the loss and are relieved that no one was injured in the robbery."
?There are three types of jewel thieves,? said financial crime author Jeffrey Robinson. ?There?s the idiot who walks into a jewelry store with a shotgun smashes and grabs and gets caught, then there?s the people who break into your home and try to steal a wedding ring.
?But then this third type - and this is the important one - he is the professional businessman. And his business is jewel thievery.?
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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