Was £50m Tamara heist an inside job?
After Tamara’s mansion is robbed of £50m of gems despite ultra-modern security, she and her husband post tantalising online messages about the heist — begging the question:
BIllIONAIRES’ Row may be the stuff of burglars’ dreams, but the prospect of breaking, entering and making a clean getaway with £50 million worth of jewellery from the most heavily guarded street in Britain would reduce even the most audacious band of looters into a cold, clammy sweat.
With some of the most security conscious neighbours in the world — Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, the Sultan of Brunei, and both the Israeli and Russian embassies — Formula One heiress Tamara Ecclestone had every reason to assume that her £70 million mansion in Kensington Palace Gardens which boasts its own 24-hour surveillance team was, as the saying goes, as safe as houses.
little wonder, then, that Tamara believes the £50 million raid on her home on Friday night in which she lost ‘almost every piece’ of jewellery was an inside job.
Friends of Tamara, 35, who had left the UK only hours before the robbery on a private jet for a family holiday in lapland, say that she has suspicions about who in her circle might have assisted a team of burglars to pull off a spectacular heist.
A Fort Knox-style security operation — with patrolling guards and CCTV which is monitored 24 hours — somehow failed to prevent the raid or to detect the intruders for almost an hour.
Tamara, husband Jay Rutland, 38, and her father Bernie Ecclestone all suspect that the culprit is close to home and that an enemy who is familiar with the house and its security is ultimately to blame.
Bernie Ecclestone, 89, told the Daily Mail that he also believed the unfolding story would turn out to implicate an inside source.
‘It is certainly a concern that this will have been done by someone with an intimate knowledge of the house and security,’ he said.
HE ADDED: ‘ I honestly don’t know what has been taken. I’ve actually been asked not to get involved in any shape or form.
‘Tamara is upset, she’s not happy with it at all. It’s not a nice thing to have to deal with but there’s not much you can do now. It’s being dealt with by the appropriate people so we will have to wait and see.’
Although not known for her piety, Tamara posted a quote from the Bible on Instagram after the raid.
It ran: ‘ For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.’
Husband Jay was in a less ecclesiastical mood, opting for a more pointed barb on the social media site which seemed to imply he knew who was behind the raid: ‘I know u are lying, but continue.’
Police confirmed yesterday that a team of criminals entered Tamara’s heavily guarded house on Friday night.
Although the road is permanently patrolled by Diplomatic Protection Group police officers operating out of gates and checkpoints, three raiders reportedly broke into the house through the garden before locating and looting two safes — one belonging to Jay and one to Tamara — before leaving 50 minutes later via an open window.
Witnesses said they saw three police cars outside the luxury home by Kensington Palace at 11.30pm on Friday when the burglary was discovered.
It is understood that guards were present inside the 57- room property at the time.
A source told The Sun: ‘ An estimated £50 million worth of jewellery has been stolen from inside Tamara’s safe and Jay’s safe.
‘Whoever did this was in the house for 50 minutes in total and had time to smash open the safes that are hidden in Tamara’s dressing room and Jay’s dressing room. Neither would be easy to find.
‘The three raiders climbed over the back fence and went into the garden, before somehow gaining access to the house. They were disturbed by a security guard after being inside for 50 minutes and are said to have bundled out of an open window.’
Speaking to the Mail yesterday, a family friend added: ‘They totally cleared out both safes. It’s all gone. Everything.
‘It is fishy, to say the least, and clearly people do have their suspicions about what has happened and who is behind it. That house is
Fort Knox. The security is unbelievable. I have been there and you don’t get into the house unless someone lets you in. In fact, unless several people do.’
As yet, no arrests have been made. But who could possibly be in the frame?
One line of inquiry for detectives will be if the thieves were helped by someone on the inside who knew the family were away and where their safes were hidden. One security guard was on duty, and a second man had reportedly left the house to fill up one of the family’s cars with petrol. An £80,000 Cartier bangle and a large watch collection including diamondstudded Rolex, Hublot and Cartier pieces worth up to £100,000 each are said to have been taken.
Although a jewellery collection worth £50 million seems like stuff of fantasy, it is not beyond the realms of possibility for a fabulously wealthy woman like Tamara.
Jewellery from the estate of the