LONDON (AP) — A purported gem expert has been convicted of using sleight of hand to steal 4.2 million pounds ($5.7 million) worth of diamonds from a luxury jeweler in London’s tony Mayfair district. Lulu Lakatos, 60, was sentenced Wednesday to 5 1/2 years in prison after the trial at Southwark Crown Court in London. Lakatos walked into the Boodles jewelry store on March 10, 2016, after arranging to value seven diamonds purportedly on behalf of wealthy Russian buyers. After she inspected the gems, they were placed in a locked bag that was supposed to be held in the jeweler’s vault until payment was received. But when Boodles’ own expert became suspicious the next day, the bag was X-rayed and the store discovered nothing but seven ordinary pebbles in it.
Woman convicted of swapping gems for pebbles in London heist
