Jewel thieves referred for trial

Three men have been referred to trial before the Limassol Criminal Court in connection with the theft in Limassol of a briefcase containing jewellery and cash worth €265,000.

The three, aged 25, 26, and 56, were arrested following the theft at the village of Lofou, in Limassol, on August 11, of a briefcase containing €250,000 in jewellery and €15,000 in cash.

The 56-year-old, also a jeweller, has been named by the other two as the mastermind but he denies any involvement in the case.

Police have not ruled out the possibility of the suspect melting the gold.

The first hearing was scheduled for October 30.

The briefcase belonged to a 70-year-old jeweller who had been misled by the suspects into thinking they were interested in renting her holiday home in Lofou.

She had gone to Lofou to show the house to the 25-year-old who posed as a prospective tenant and left the briefcase in her car.

While he was given the tour, police suspect the 26-year-old broke the vehicle’s left rear window and snatched the briefcase.

The pair told police they handed over the briefcase to the 56-year-old who paid them €5,000 each, which they used to buy two used cars for themselves.

They told police that they had tried twice on the same day to steal the case; the first attempt was outside the woman’s house. The second time they deliberately crashed into her car on the way to the holiday home and asked her to open the boot so they could see if there was any damage.

The three were released on bail after surrendering their travel documents and had their names put on the list of people banned from leaving the country.

They must also report to a police station every day.