An armed robber robbed a jewelry exhibition at The Carlton Hotel in the luxurious resort city of Cannes, France Sunday, stealing jewels worth $53 million. The hotel had been holding an exhibition of the jewelry from diamond specialist Leviev since July 20.
The robber walked into the hotel with a hat and scarf covering his face, before taking out a pistol and demanding to be given bags containing jewels and diamond-encrusted watches. Security guards were present but unarmed at the time.
Chicago Tribune reports that there was no violence involved in the robbery.
"Everything happened very quickly," a judicial source said.
This has been the third armed robbery involving jewels in the area since May. The other two events in which major jewels were stolen were connected with the famous Cannes Film Festival, which takes place every year in May.
According to CNN, the Swiss firm Chopard was sponsoring the film festival, and the stolen jewels were owned by them. Millions of dollars worth of jewels were stolen at these past two events.