South Africa
Brazen R8 million jewellery heist in Sandton─── 10:10 Fri, 09 Aug 2019
Staff members at an upmarket jewellery store in Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, Johannesburg, were showing expensive watches and rings to an interested "customer" when they suddenly found themselves being robbed of goods worth R8m.
According to Sandton police spokesperson Captain Granville Meyer, three suspects - two men and a woman - entered the House of Ameera store on Sunday pretending to be customers.
"They were fitting watches when one of the guys took out a firearm. They took jewellery worth R8m and an undisclosed amount of money," Meyer told News24.
The ordeal was caught on CCTV cameras and images of the three suspects were widely shared on social media.
An armed gang robbed the upmarket Diamond Works store opposite the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Friday morning, police confirmed.
According to TimesLive, Taybah Moosa from the House of Ameera said the woman first entered the store and looked around before asking to be shown the most expensive watch, worth R2.9m. She also reportedly asked to be shown expensive rings - and seemed nervous.
Moosa reportedly said it was "weird" that the woman wanted to see only the most expensive products. He reportedly said she did not pay attention to detail but kept on looking around and outside the window.
Meyer says the two male accomplices then entered the store and proceeded to rob it.
"No arrests have been made as yet," Meyer said.
Calls to the House of Ameera went unanswered on Tuesday.
In May, a brazen "couple" posing as lovers robbed a jewellery store in East London, News24reported.
A branch of Browns Jewellers at Hemingways Mall was caught off guard when the pair, who pretended to be looking for an engagement ring, pulled out guns and proceeded to rob the store of valuable jewels.
According to police spokesperson Captain Mluleki Mbi, the man and woman were joined by three more men who carried out the robbery.
"They held staff members at gunpoint and loaded jewellery into bags before fleeing the scene," Mbi told News24.
In October last year, a group of men pretending to be police officers robbed a jewellery store at i'langa Mall in Nelspruit, News24 reported.
The group robbed the store of an undisclosed amount of cash and fled the scene in a white Ford Ranger.
