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CRIME

Armed gang takes Piaget jewellery worth millions in Paris heist

An armed gang robbed a Paris store of luxury jewellery and watch brand Piaget on Tuesday, making off with €10 to €15 million worth of goods in broad daylight, police and prosecutors said.

Armed gang takes Piaget jewellery worth millions in Paris heist
The logo of the French luxury Piaget jewellers store at Rue de la Paix in Paris (Photo by STEFANO RELLANDINI / AFP)

According to early indications, three people were involved in the robbery at around 1:00pm, with at least one of them carrying a weapon.

The gang fled the scene with their bounty, estimated at between €10 million and €15 million. Nobody was hurt, a police source said.

The store is located on the Rue de la Paix in the heart of the French capital, situated near the prestigious Place Vendome and home to several stores of high-end jewellery brands.

The last high-profile heist in the neighbourhood occurred in April, when three people on motorbikes robbed the Bulgari store, making off with several million of euros worth of jewellery.

Piaget, founded in Switzerland, makes luxury watches with price tags that can reach several tens of thousands of euros, and high-end jewellery.

It is a subsidiary of the Richemont group, which also owns several other luxury goods companies including Cartier, Baume and Mercier, Chloe, and Van Cleef and Arpels.

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CRIME

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The head of France's top cinema institution Dominique Boutonnat denied sexually assaulting his godson as he went on trial Friday in a case that has led to calls for him to step down.

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The trial comes as French cinema reels from a renewed #MeToo reckoning that has seen several big names, including acting legend Gerard Depardieu, accused of sexual abuse.

READ ALSO: French actor Gérard Depardieu to be tried for sexual assault in October

Activists have denounced Boutonnat’s continued leadership of the National Centre of Cinema (CNC), whose role includes overseeing measures to curb sexual violence in the industry.

His godson accuses him of trying to masturbate him during a holiday in Greece in 2020 when he was 19.

“I looked at him to find my godfather and that’s when I saw someone completely different… It was someone using me to masturbate,” the godson, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court.

Boutonnat responded in court that it was his godson who had initiated the situation and kissed him.

“I feel bad about leaving an ambiguous situation, but to say there was a sexual assault is false,” he told the court.

He was placed under investigation in February 2021 but still reappointed by the government as head of the CNC in July 2022.

Training to prevent abuse has in recent months become obligatory for films seeking public funding via the CNC.

The CNC told AFP that the case against Boutonnat came from “the private sphere” and had no relation to its activities.

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