Lulu Lakatos, a 60 year-old woman who was jailed in July for five-and-a-half-years after swapping diamonds valued at $7.8 million for worthless pebbles, has been ordered to pay just $332 by a Proceeds of Crime hearing at a London court, IDEX Online reports.
Lakatos was found to have just 293 euros and 57 cents to her name, and the judge comments that “as far as the figures are concerned, there is a striking contrast between the benefit figure of £4,299,671 and the available assets.”
Lakatos allegedly examined seven diamonds at luxury Mayfair jeweler Boodles for a group posing as wealthy Russian buyers. She then tucked the purse with the seven diamonds into her handbag. According to the story, “when staff protested she immediately withdrew what appeared to be the same purse”. The staff then placed the replica purse in the vault. The next day, as the purse was examined, it was revealed that it contained “nothing but garden pebbles”.
Among the seven diamonds stolen was a 20-carat heart-shaped diamond worth $3 million as well as a 3-carat pear-shaped fancy pink diamond valued at $1.5 million.
