Cannes jewel theft now estimated at close to $136M
This picture taken on October 3, 2012 shows a model holding the Archduke Joseph diamond during a Christie’s auction preview in Geneva.
The latest Cannes jewelry heist turns out to be even larger than authorities had initially estimated.
The prosecutor's office in Nice told CNN that Sunday's robbery netted the burglar about $136 million in jewels and diamond-studded watches, more than twice the amount originally reported.
Local police had previously said the jewelry was worth about $53 million but a French state prosecutor told the Associated Press a more thorough look at the inventory by the show's Dubai-based organizer proved otherwise.
The thief is said to have entered the Carlton InterContinental Hotel in Cannes on Sunday morning with a gun in his hand and a scarf covering his face.
More from GlobalPost: Cannes thieves strike again: $53M in jewelry stolen at Carlton Hotel
"It all happened very quickly and without any violence," the prosecutor's office said Sunday.
The heist is the third such brazen robbery in the area since May and now one of the biggest and speediest in recent years.
The jewels were part of an exhibition owned by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev.
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