<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Paris prosecutor said two new suspects were handed preliminary charges for their </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/louvre-theft-five-new-arrests/d9c7bcbf-2df7-4f80-aa4c-23b5bd462df0" rel="" target="_blank" title="alleged involvement in the crown jewels heist at the Louvre museum"><span>alleged involvement in the crown jewels heist at the Louvre museum</span></a><span>, three days after they were arrested by police as part of the sweeping investigation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said a 37-year-old suspect was charged with theft by an organised gang and criminal conspiracy.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was known to authorities for previous thefts, the statement said.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/women-killed-nsw-hunter-region/39a1f30b-4527-4a32-9ee8-8d5eb4581367" rel="" target="_blank" title="Man charged with murder after woman found dead in Hunter Valley home"><strong><span>Man charged with murder after woman found dead in Hunter Valley home</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The other suspect, a 38-year-old woman, was accused of being an accomplice.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They were both incarcerated.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They both denied involvement, the prosecutor said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/two-new-suspects-handed-preliminary-charges-in-louvre-jewels-heist-case-paris-prosecutor-says/98222bd9-9b82-46a2-80c5-40964b52137e" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The lawyer for the woman, Adrien Sorrentino, told reporters his client is “devastated" because she disputes the accusations.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"She does not understand how she is implicated in any of the elements she is accused of," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/south-australia-whyalla-veterinarian-andrew-melville-smith-car-hit-by-a-suspected-meteorite-port-august-highway/3132693d-6f34-478c-bd92-0f630a5ff6b3" target="_blank"><strong><span>Man's new Tesla struck by suspected meteorite on remote Aussie highway</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Jewels have not been recovered</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Officials said the jewels stolen in the October 19 heist have not been recovered – a trove valued around €88 million ($155 million), that includes a diamond-and-emerald necklace Napoleon gave to Empress Marie-Louise as a wedding gift, jewels tied to 19th-century Queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense, and Empress Eugénie’s pearl-and-diamond tiara.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Five people were arrested by police on Wednesday in connection with the case, including one tied to the heist by DNA.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That person is suspected of belonging to the team of four who used a freight lift truck to enter the Louvre. The prosecutor did not specify whether the person was among those charged on Saturday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The three others have been released without charge, Beccuau said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Two earlier suspects, men aged 34 and 39 from Aubervilliers, north of Paris, were charged this week with theft by an organised gang and criminal conspiracy.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Beccuau said both gave “minimalist” statements and “partially admitted” their involvement.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The two are believed to be the men who forced their way into the Apollo Gallery.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One was stopped at Charles-de-Gaulle Airport with a one-way ticket to Algeria; his DNA matched a scooter used in the getaway.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/senior-meteorologist-jonathan-how-interview-exclusive-day-in-the-life-of-a-bureau-of-meteorology-worker/3d1328d8-eb7a-4595-a2e1-413990be80f5" rel="" target="_blank" title="'Race against the clock': A peek behind the curtain in the BoM office"><strong><span>'Race against the clock': A peek behind the curtain in the BoM office</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>About 100 investigators involved</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Neither names nor extensive biographical details about the suspects have been made public.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Information about investigations is meant to be secret under French law, to avoid compromising police work and to ensure victims’ right to privacy, a policy known as “secret d’instruction.″</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Only the prosecutor can speak publicly about developments, and violators can be prosecuted.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Earlier this week, Beccuau praised an “exceptional mobilisation” – about 100 investigators seven days a week, with roughly 150 forensic samples analysed and 189 items sealed as evidence.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It took robbers less than eight minutes to steal the jewels.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The team of four used a freight lift, allowing two of them to force a window and cut into two display cases with disc cutters, before the four fled on two scooters toward eastern Paris.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Only the “near-simultaneous” arrival of police and museum security stopped the thieves from torching the lift and destroying crucial evidence, the prosecutor said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Investigators said there is no sign of insider help for now, though they are not ruling out a wider network beyond the four on camera.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In a separate case, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said six people were arrested on Thursday soon after a robbery at a gold refining laboratory in the city of Lyon during which thieves used explosives.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The loot, which was estimated to be worth 12 million euros ($21.2 million) has been recovered, Nuñez said on X.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span></span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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