At around 7:15 PM on December 1, 2019, a man rang the doorbell of one of the wealthy houses in West London, not wanting to meet the homeowner, former player Frank Lampard, or his wife. He only wanted to confirm that no one was home. This was the second step in a plan to steal from multiple wealthy homes in London, and indeed, the gang's plan succeeded, leading to the largest residential burglary in modern British history.
The first step involved closely monitoring the targeted homes over an extended period, with the houses chosen based on the thieves' belief that there was money and valuable jewelry inside. Nearly two years after this coordinated crime, British authorities still have not recovered the stolen items from one of the homes, estimated to be worth about £26 million ($35 million). The theft was meticulous, involving cash and jewelry, which the thieves managed to smuggle out of the UK.
The Daily Mail reported that the "evaporated" stolen goods suggest that the burglary is fit for a movie, emphasizing that this is the largest residential burglary in British history. On Thursday, Sky News reported that one gang member confessed to his involvement in the burglary of Tamara Ecclestone's home, the daughter of renowned billionaire Bernie Ecclestone, the former head of Formula 1. Tamara experienced extreme terror when the thieves broke into her home, as her young daughter repeatedly asked her later if the burglars would return.
The third target of the burglary belonged to Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the chairman of Leicester City Football Club, who died in a helicopter crash a year prior to the burglary. British authorities have been investigating the theft for two years, reviewing over 2,000 hours of surveillance footage, with investigations extending beyond the borders of the UK.
Eventually, four suspects were identified, who were in Italy, which extradited three of them to the UK, while the fourth remains at large. Joslav Jovanovic (24), a resident of Milan, confessed that he was part of the gang that robbed wealthy homes in London. The British Public Prosecution Service stated that Jovanovic used some of the stolen money to shop at London's famous Harrods department store. A British court is set to issue its ruling on the case in mid-November.
