Pregnant burglar stole £500k from £105m mansion posing as cleaner

Telegraph

17-05-2025

A pregnant burglar stole jewellery worth more than £500,000 from a £105 million London property by posing as a cleaner.
Luminita Zamfir, 24, stole rings, necklaces and earrings from what is London's second-largest home after Buckingham Palace in February.
The then-pregnant Romanian told domestic staff at the property that she had been sent by a cleaning agency for a trial shift.
Zamfir carried out two further burglaries at London homes, taking £50,000 worth of watches, cufflinks and cash before being caught.
None of the jewellery has been recovered.
Zamfir, who cradled her newborn while appearing from HMP Bronzefield via video link, pleaded guilty to all three counts of burglary at Wood Green Crown Court on Tuesday.
The court heard the first burglary took place on November 28 last year, when she took £50,000 of watches and cufflinks from the £11 million home of Sean Gorvy, an investment banker.
The second was in February at London's second-largest private residence, which was not named in court.
Timothy Sleigh-Johnson, prosecuting, said Zamfir knocked at the house next door which was home to domestic staff.
'This defendant was not known to the staff, and she said she was a trial cleaner. She was therefore allowed into the property [next door] and left later that day,' he said.
Mr Sleigh-Johnson added: 'When the occupants returned valuable property – jewellery and other items – were found to be stolen which has been valued at £548,565.
'CCTV footage from inside the address was provided to the police and Zamfir was identified by the police.'
The third burglary took place five days later at a £1.6 million home, where she took a ring, a Gucci watch and £200 in cash.
Pippa, the homeowner, said the ring was an antique gold Intaglio ring that was her late father's engagement ring. On Feb 10, her husband Christopher, 62, was at home awaiting a delivery when Zamfir knocked on the door and said she was a cleaner.
'She flicked her shoes off and began to pet the dogs,' Pippa told the Daily Mail outside work. ''Then she went upstairs and into one of the bedrooms, which is when we think she must have taken the ring, watch and cash.
'Christopher was upstairs in his study and began to think something did not seem right and came downstairs and saw her plumping the cushions.'
Pippa added: 'She quickly said she needed to go out and buy some cleaning products and would be back in 10 minutes.'
Zamfir never returned and the couple then passed doorbell footage to the police, who had identified her as a suspect in the other burglaries from a DNA sample on a tissue left at Mr Gorvy's home.
Zamfir has four previous convictions for burglary and shoplifting dating back to 2016 and will be sentenced on June 11.