Man admits his part in £26 million homes raids
A GANG member involved in the UK’s biggest raid on homes has admitted to his part in swiping more than £1 million worth of goods from the late owner of Leicester City.
Jugoslav Jovanovic was part of a major organised international gang of thieves who conducted the raids on celebrities’ homes in 2019.
Jovanovic and the gang stole items worth more than £26 million in cash and jewellery.
The raids all began in December 2019 when the gang ransacked the Kensington mansion of socialite Tamara Ecclestone.
The burglary, the largest domestic robbery of its kind in the UK, saw the gang take more than £25 million of jewellery and cash from the home of Tamara, daughter of former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.
The gang then went on to take £50,000 of property from the home of former Chelsea player and manager Frank Lampard and his wife Christine.
More than £1 million of goods were also stolen from a property that had been owned by the late Leicester City owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.
The home of Khun Vichai had been turned into a shrine by his family after he and four others were killed in the helicopter crash tragedy of 2018.
Police have not recovered any of the stolen items, believing they have all been taken abroad.
For his part in the crime, Jovanovic, from Milan, was extradited from Italy and was due to stand trial at Isleworth Crown Court. However, he pleaded guilty last week to a charge of conspiracy to launder money between December 10, 2019 and January 31, 2020.
Jovanovic previously admitted one count of conspiracy to burgle between November 29 and December 18, 2019 and one count of attempting to convert criminal property.
This second charge relates to a failed bid to buy two Louis Vuitton jackets from Harrods using stolen cash.
Jovanovic will be sentenced on November 15 alongside Italian nationals Alessandro Maltese, 45, and Alessandro Donati, 44, who were also extradited to the UK and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary.
A fourth alleged burglar, Daniel Vukovic, 40, is on the run.
Alexandru Stan, Sorin Marcovici, Maria Mester and Emil Bogdan Savastru, all Romanians, were cleared in January of being part of the gang’s “supporting cast”.
PROPERTY THAT HAD BELONGED TO KHUN VICHAI AMONG TARGETS