Latest news with #ScamsandLies
Daily Mail
23-04-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Where are Tamara Ecclestone's missing diamonds? New Mail podcast scours the globe for Formula One heiress's £25 million in stolen jewellery, uncovering the shocking truth behind Britain's biggest domestic burglary
An exclusive Mail podcast investigating the £25million raid of F1 heiress Tamara Ecclestone's mansion launches today as part of a new, hard-hitting true crimes series called ' Heists, Scams and Lies: The Hunt for Tamara Ecclestone's Diamonds '. It follows crime correspondent George Odling and senior reporter Andy Jehring as they travel around Europe on the trail of the biggest domestic burglary in British history. Speaking to police chiefs, victims, and even acquaintances of the thieves themselves, they build up the most comprehensive picture yet of what happened on the night and, over five gripping episodes, try to solve the mystery – where are Tamara's stolen diamonds? Odling was one of the first reporters on the scene after a gang of international cat burglars ransacked the socialite's home in December 2019. She was on holiday with her young family in Lapland at the time they struck the fortress-like property on London 's 'billionaire's row' in Kensington – one of the most heavily guarded streets in Britain. The audacity of the heist stunned the nation: the robbers made off with over £25million in jewels from a street that is also home to the Sultan of Brunei, former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovic, and the embassies of Israel and Russia. It also shocked authorities and saw the Flying Squad - some of London's finest detectives - drafted in to crack the case. Detective Constable Andrew Payne led the probe and in this new Mail podcast series, Heists, Scams and Lies, he talks through his remarkable investigation in intricate detail. Speaking on the podcast, he explains how they uncovered that these international bandits were also responsible for hits on the West London homes of Frank and Christine Lampard as well as the late Leicester City chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, just days before raiding the Ecclestone home. DC Payne then goes into the unorthodox methods his men used working with counterparts in Italy to catch gang members Jugoslav Jovanovic, Alessandro Maltese, and Alessandro Donati. The thieves were finally jailed at Isleworth Crown Court in 2021 – but the whereabouts of the loot remained unknown while the mastermind, a mysterious 'fourth man' with at least 19 different aliases, was still at large. After the trial, Odling and Jehring were tasked to find out as much information as possible about the final suspect, flying to Milan and Belgrade where he was believed to be hiding out. Speaking to his acquaintances across the Continent they ticked through his different aliases to find his real identity – even tracking him down to his hometown. On the way they uncovered his extraordinary back story and a high-flying life of crime that could be lifted straight out of an Ocean's 11 movie. The first episode of Heists, Scams and Lies: The Hunt for Tamara Ecclestone's Diamonds, available now on all good podcast platforms, looks at the mechanics of the heist, asking the question of how the thieves were able to so brazenly steal from one of the most fortified residences in the UK. Talking Odling and Jehring through the crime, Tamara's husband, Jay Rutland, says: 'Those thieves should never have been able to get into my house.' He remarks on the movement of the burglars that night, how they seemed to know the location of their most prized possessions. Jay also reveals how he has not been able to recoup a penny of the stolen £25million worth of items on insurance due to a clause in the small print. In this episode, Odling and Jehring also delve into the earlier burglaries, which started with a knock on the door of the home of England and Chelsea legend Lampard. It also documents the glee with which the bandits tore into the home of the late Leicester City chairman, Mr Srivaddhanaprabha, downing £500 bottles of Crystal while pocketing fistfuls of luxury items.
Daily Mail
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Insurance catch that cost Ecclestones £25m in Britain's biggest burglary: Tamara's husband reveals the astonishing oversight which left them unable to claim for stolen gems
F1 heiress Tamara Ecclestone and her husband were unable to recoup any of the £25million lost in Britain's biggest burglary because of an astonishing insurance blunder, it has been revealed on a new investigative podcast from the Daily Mail, Heists Scams and Lies: The Hunt for Tamara Ecclestone's Missing Diamonds. International jewel thieves ransacked the family's sprawling Kensington mansion while they were on holiday in Lapland, making off with millions worth of priceless gems, watches and cash. And there was another gut punch to come when the devastated mother-of-two and her husband, Jay Rutland, discovered they could not claim a penny back for the stolen goods. Incredibly, the insurance policy for their £75million home contained an exemption clause for watches and jewellery that had previously gone unnoticed. The bombshell is one of several shocking revelations from the Heists, Scams and Lies podcast, out today and available on all good podcast platforms. The explosive new True Crime series lifts the lid on the burglary spree that rocked Britain, tracks the stolen loot across Europe and even features interviews with associates of the thieves themselves. Another bombshell revealed in the show is that the gang behind the break-in also targeted the homes of supermodel Kate Moss and musician Eric Clapton. The thieves spent days scouting the mansions of London's rich and famous before selecting their final targets: the homes of Frank and Christine Lampard, the late Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and of course, the Ecclestone mansion on Billionaires' Row. Some of the luxury watches snatched from the home Speaking exclusively to the Heists, Scams and Lies podcast, Mr Rutland said he accepted responsibility for a lack of diligence that meant the family were unable to make a claim for the valuables looted from their home. 'Our total insurance claim was for, I think, 40 grand or 45 grand, something like that, which was for the doors in the house because [the burglars] literally smashed down about 25 or 30 doors,' he said. 'If you can imagine, every door to every room was locked. So that meant they had to crowbar each door open. So, I remember we claimed on the insurance for those doors to be replaced, but that was it. Nothing else was insured.' The creative director at the Maddox Gallery added: 'Don't get me wrong, that's our own fault and clearly it teaches you the importance of checking the small print. 'But that was one of the exclusions in the policy - watches and jewellery, very specifically.' In just one hour the burglars cleared the mansion of 400 items of jewellery, watches and large sums of cash while the family were abroad. 'For Tamara, it was literally every piece of jewellery that she'd accumulated since she was 16,' Mr Rutland said. 'I think she was lucky in the sense that it wasn't her wedding ring because she had it on her where we were. 'But there were lots of very sentimental pieces that she'd been given by her mum, by her dad, by other family members, by me.' Almost none of the stolen property, snatched from the three mansions over 13 days in December 2019, has ever been recovered and is thought to have been smuggled across Europe and beyond. Prior to the raids, the gang also scouted a £3.5million central London property owned by Mr Clapton since 1991, and a £11.5million mansion in north-west London which was owned by Ms Moss at the time. A source close to the investigation confirmed that the two celebrities had been on the hitlist for the gang of thieves. 'Scouting missions were carried out on a number of celebrities' homes, because the thieves knew these people would have expensive jewels and memorabilia inside,' they said. 'The purpose of the reconnaissance was to get a feel for possible entry points and weaknesses – anywhere that looked too secure they would leave and move onto the next home.' Neither Ms Moss or Mr Clapton, named as the second greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, would comment. But Mr Rutland told the podcast: 'I'm sure for them it feels like a lucky escape…because [the burglars] were clearly professionals.' A spokesman from Scotland Yard said they could not confirm which houses the burglars had observed prior to the break-ins. In November 2022, Italians Jugoslav Jovanovic, Alessandro Maltese and Alessandro Donati were jailed for a total of 28 at years at Isleworth Crown Court after pleading guilty to conspiracy to burgle. The fourth man, a Serbian said to have been the mastermind behind the heists, Ljubomir Radosavljevic, 43, remains in custody in Belgrade. An extradition request from the UK was turned down, but he faces charges in his homeland of trying to smuggle the stolen luxury goods across international borders and laundering £26million of assets stolen from Switzerland and the UK. The first series of Heists, Scams and Lies podcast, which launches today, tells the story of the most incredible burglary spree in British history from the perspectives of the victims, the detectives who hunted the thieves and even associates of the criminals themselves. Listen to Episode 1 now on all good podcast platforms, or binge the whole series from today by subscribing to The Crime Desk, the home of arresting podcasts. Join now to get full–and ad-free–access to our archive of over 200 episodes of The Trial, includling Lucy Letby, to the case of the man who plotted to kidnap and murder Holly Willoughby and our acclaimed series, The Trial of Lord Lucan. Plus, enjoy The Trial+, our brilliant new spin-off series with a bonus, members-only episode EVERY WEEK. And you'll get unrestricted, early access to our unmissable True Crime podcasts like 'On The Case' and, our brand new series, 'Heists, Scams & Lies,' with more unmissable new shows being added all the time.
