Suspects Questioned in Paris Diamond Heist

PARIS, June 23, 2009 — -- French police today questioned 22 people rounded up in Paris this week in connection with last December's record-setting diamond heist at the Harry Winston store in Paris that netted a group of thieves an estimated $118 million worth of jewelry.

The jewelry was stolen in December from the renowned American store in Paris, the largest jewelry theft ever in France and just slightly below the $127 million world-record diamond heist in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2003, according to reports from AFP.

Insurance company Lloyd's of London offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the recovery of the Harry Winston jewels.

Police initially believed the theft was orchestrated by an international organized crime gang such as the Pink Panthers, a group of thieves from the Balkans famous for daring jewelry store heists around the world. But French authorities said the group now facing questioning is local.

They are "typical experienced thugs of the Paris [suburbs]," Christophe Gesset, representative of Synergie Officiers police union, told ABCNews.com. "They are very well known to the police."

No charges have yet been filed, and the suspects, who reportedly range in age from 22 to 67, can be held for questioning for up to 96 hours.

French media reported Monday that a store security guard was among the people being questioned.

"Following the theft, French investigators very quickly looked into possible inside complicities. They had been very interested by the behavior of some members of the gang for months," Gesset said.

On Dec. 4, 2008, four armed robbers, some reportedly dressed in drag, entered the Harry Winston store in broad daylight on the chic Avenue Montaigne, off the Champs Elysees in central Paris, a heavily patrolled area less than 330 feet from a police station. At the time, 15 or so employees and customers were inside the store, according to local press reports.

It took the gun-toting thieves just 20 minutes to raid the store safes and swipe rings, necklaces and luxury watches from display cases. The gang then casually exited and vanished without firing a shot, "discreetly, without screeching tires, without any agitation, nothing," a witness told France 2 TV at the time.

French TV showed pictures of just three remaining diamond-rimmed watches in one display case after the robbery, sorry remnants of the once sparkly window display.