"Bogus Gemologist" tells Court: It wasn't me, it was my Dead Sister
July 28, 21
(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.