Bogus Sheikh Accused of Being Prince of Jewel Thieves

They called him the sultan, the emir, the sheikh. He wore crocodile-skin loafers and fine silk suits, rode in chauffeur-driven limos and leather-upholstered private jets, maintained servants and even boasted, on special occasions, of a harem.

In fact Jean Herrina was born in a middle-class family in Rome 46 years ago. He grew up in a modest and nondescript suburb of Paris. But among exclusive fraternity of top-class jewel thieves he is said to have had no equal.

Like something out of a novel, he could switch from Arabic to French to Italian to English at will. He always looked the part, from the moustache to the princess on his arm. He was a great actor, no doubt. But his best weapon was the quickness of his hands. Half the time, his victims didn’t even know they’d been done till it was too late.

By the time he was finally arrested, Mr Herrina was wanted by police in France, Monaco, Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Hong Kong.

He was suspected of stealing assorted diamonds, precious stones, rings, necklaces and luxury watches worth something in excess of €6 million, and that, police really admit, is probably not the half of it.

Mr Herrina is accused of practicing what is known in the trade as “distraction theft”, posing most of the time as Ben Abdulaziz al Saud, a senior member of the extended Saudi royal family.

He would arrive at some chic resort town by chartered private plane, then move into a suite at the resort’s swankiest hotel. The town’s leading jewelers were then asked to come to him with their most precious pieces, or he would tour their stores himself in a rented Rolls.

The technique he is said to have used in August 2002 to make off with a particularly fine 15-carat, €250,000 diamond from one of the best Paris stores was typical, the gendarmerie spokesman said.

“He walked in with one of his so-called wives, who tried on every piece in the shop but plainly couldn’t make up her mind and eventually went back out to the car,” he said.

The gentleman thief, who has never been accused of the slightest violence, lingered for a while and even left a large wad of €500 notes by the till to allay any lingering suspicion, the gendarme alleged. When he “popped back out to the car to consult his wife one last time”, the store’s most valuable gem was in his pocket, it is said.

Using similar methods of substituting costume jewelry for the real thing, the fame emir allegedly made off with two diamond rings worth more than $1 million each in Hong Kong in 2001.

Mr Herrina’s most spectacular coup, however, took place in Marbella, Spain, last year, when he is said to have strolled calmly out of one of the world’s most expensive jewelry chains, Van Cleef & Arpels, allegedly carrying a unique, century-old 22-carat diamond known as the Golconda. The stone, which measures more than 2cm across the face, is estimated at more than €3 million.

Recognized by police from security cameras, the alleged master thief was finally traced to a relatively modest apartment in Paris, where he was finally arrested.

In the flat, and in two stashes in Paris, police found a false passport (in the name of Jean-Mario Sturiano), a necklace worth €230,000, a gold Rolex worth €43,000, more luxury watches stolen in Switzerland and Belgium, and a diamond measuring 2cm across the face that experts say is probably the Golconda, recut and repolished.

(From ‘The Guardian’, abridged)