Suave Con Man Dupes Jewel Couriers in International Scheme

There’s only one word to describe what happened to two employees of Bijan, a prominent Rodeo Drive boutique, who flew off to London carting $3 million worth of jewelry to show to a prospective client: hoodwinked.

Hoping to woo a potential customer whom the jewelry couriers believed was a member of a Far Eastern royal family, the store employees were left instead empty-handed in front of a London hotel in the chic Knightsbridge area, a Scotland Yard spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Scotland Yard would only say that the jewelers were from Los Angeles, but the London press widely reported that the employees were from Bijan. A man who identified himself over the phone as a manager of the boutique--which is located at 420 N. Rodeo Drive and is well known for its menswear and fragrances--confirmed that the store was the victim of the London con man but would supply no further details.

Apparently the con man--who said he was a relative of the Sultan of Brunei interested in buying pieces of jewelry, according to London media reports--appeared well-outfitted in the trappings of wealth.

“He arranged for two of [Bijan’s] staff to be flown to London in a private jet,” said Scotland Yard spokeswoman Alex Hathaway. “He arranged for their overnight stay.”

According to the police spokeswoman, the two staffers spent the night of Nov. 29 in a London hotel and were ferried--at this prospective customer’s expense--to the Sheraton Park Tower Hotel in London the next afternoon.

There, the two employees were met by the suspected thief, who arrived in a chauffeur-driven Daimler automobile accompanied by a fleet of four Mercedes--”very impressive,” Hathaway said.

At some point, the two employees handed over the jewelry in a case to the con man, who drove off with it in his car.

After he left, his security advisor--who was hired from a genuine agency on bogus premises, according to police--told the Bijan staffers that the prospective buyer was going to another location to view the jewelry in more detail.

At that point, “they became concerned,” said the Scotland Yard spokeswoman.

Somewhere along the way, the con man jumped out of his car and ran off with the jewelry. The chauffeur returned to the hotel and told the Bijan staffers what happened. They called the police.

“It’s odd why they would give him the case without . . . any money,” she said.

The thief is described as 5 feet, 9 inches tall with straight black hair and “of Asian-type appearance.” Scotland Yard inspectors are investigating. None of the con man’s entourage or the Bijan employees are suspected of involvement in the theft.