8 Arrested, Some Jewels Recovered in London Theft

Part of the $3 million in jewelry stolen last month in London from two executives of the Bijan store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills has been recovered and eight arrests have been made, according to a Scotland Yard official.

“What we were told by Scotland Yard in a fax is that the majority has been recovered,” said Bijan spokesperson Brett Neubig. The police have not identified for the jewelers which of the pieces have been recovered, Neubig said.

Two Bijan executives had been lured to London with the jewelry by a thief posing as a member of Far Eastern royal family. In an elaborate scheme, the robber provided the two executives with a private plane and hotel accommodations in London. He set a meeting with them on Nov. 30 in the fashionable Knightsbridge section and arrived in a motorcade of luxury cars. The thief fled in one of the cars with the jewelry, saying he was taking it away for further inspection.

Scotland Yard spokesman Cornelius Alexander said three of the eight men arrested have been charged, but would not say whether any of them was the con man.

Khawar Zaman, 24, a student from Slough, a town south of London, was arrested and charged Dec. 15 with conspiracy to steal jewelry valued at 1.8 million pounds (about $3.15 million). Also arrested and similarly charged was Omar Ayub, 22, a student from Manchester. Ajmal Ayub, an 18-year-old student from Manchester, was charged with handling stolen goods. The other five men arrested have been released on what is called police bail and are due to return to a police station for further questioning in February.

“We are happy that we got it back,” said Bijan store manager Giancarlo Palermo.

Neubig said the two executives continue to work for the store and were not reprimanded in any way.

“The biggest consideration Bijan had was that they were safe,” Neubig said. “You can imagine how upset they were to be in this position and come back empty-handed.”

Neubig said the Bijan store--which also sells menswear and fragrance--always takes precautions when expensive jewelry leaves the store. Bijan’s clients include members of royal families, he said.

In this case, the robber was able to convince Bijan staffers that he was legitimate: “With the phone calls made, the names that were given, everything was justified and on the level. Otherwise [the executives] never would have taken the trip,” Neubig said.