"Bogus Gemologist" tells Court: It wasn't me, it was my Dead Sister

By John Jeffay / July 28, 2021 / www.idexonline.com / Article Link

(IDEX Online) - The woman accused of swapping $7.8m of diamonds for worthless pebbles told a court it wasn't her.  It was her dead sister.Lulu Lakatos, 60, is accused of posing as a gemologist called Anna in a sophisticated heist at the jeweler Boodles (pictured) in Mayfair, London.But she told a court it was her younger sister Liliana who had been involved in the crime in March 2016. Romanian-born Lakatos said Liliana had confessed to her months before she died in a car crash, aged 49, in October 2019. She also said Liliana had admitted stealing her passport.She was asked in court to identify a woman caught on CCTV posing as the gemologist. "This is my sister, Liliana Lakatos," she replied.Lakatos is accused of switching seven gems - among them a 20-ct heart-shaped diamond worth $3m million - for garden pebbles.She allegedly placed a locked purse into her handbag before being challenged by staff. She immediately withdrew an identical purse and pocketed the real gems, Southwark Crown Court heard.The case continues.

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