The fake police officer who stole 830,000 euros worth of cash has been arrested

“Wearing national police equipment, they only used the pretext of a search to enter the victim’s house,” explained the Lille prosecutor’s office, while the thefts took place in the North, Var and Calvados.

Four people were arrested on Tuesday, November 21, for the theft of cash, gold, jewelry and weapons from a private home where they broke in pretending to be police officers, the Lille prosecutor’s office announced on Friday, November 21. Total damage “around 830 000 euros”according to a press release from prosecutors.

The four people were caught red-handed on Tuesday in Noyelles-Godault (Pas-de-Calais) by the research and intervention brigade (BRI), as part of an investigation entrusted to the North’s interdepartmental judicial police service (SIPJ), which began in June. “Wearing national police equipment, they only used the pretext of a search to enter the victim’s house whose gold coins were stolen,” according to prosecutors. Handcuffs, imitation weapons, vests and police armbands were found in the Airbnb accommodation the four people had rented.

Three other people were arrested in the case, including a banking adviser and his accomplice, the Lille prosecutor’s office added. Thefts were committed in the suburbs of Lille and in Cambrai (North), but also in Toulon (Var) and Grandcamp-Maisy (Calvados). The seven defendants are to be handed over to the investigating judge on Saturday, after their prison terms expire.