£50M Ecclestone jewelry theft an ‘inside job’

The former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has said he believes the theft of £50 million worth of jewelry from his daughter’s property was an “inside job,” The Guardian reported.

Tamara Ecclestone was said to have been left “shaken” by the burglary at her London home on Friday night which happened after she left the country for her Christmas holidays.

Scotland Yard investigators say they are keeping an open mind about the raid on the house near Hyde Park.

However, Bernie Ecclestone, 89, said on Monday: “I don’t have all the facts but given all the security at the house, I’m assuming it was an inside job.

“It’s an awful thing to happen just after she had left the house to go to Lapland. Although maybe it’s better that she wasn’t in at the time.”

Tamara Ecclestone – who posted an image on her Instagram account last week of a child at the steps of what appeared to be a private jet, followed by another a day later seemingly from an overseas destination – posted a biblical verse on Monday in what some followers interpreted as a reference to the theft.

“For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open,” read the lines from Luke 8:17.

Thieves are believed to have entered through the garden before breaking into safes hidden in the bedroom of the house in central London, the report said.

All of Ecclestone’s jewelry is understood to have been taken. Police used sniffer dogs to search the grounds of the property, and are looking through CCTV.

The Sun reported that intruders fled with items including rings, earrings and an £80,000 Cartier bangle given to her as a wedding present.

A spokesman for Tamara Ecclestone, who has a five-year-old daughter, Sophia, said: “I can sadly confirm there has been a home invasion. Internal security are co-operating with police in this matter.

“Tamara and family are well but obviously angry and shaken by the incident, the report said.

The Metropolitan police said officers were called to a residential property in Palace Green at 11.:11 pm on Friday to reports of a burglary and that a “fast-paced investigation” was underway.

DS Matthew Pountney, from Central West command unit, said: “A number of officers, including the dog unit, deployed to the (£70 million) residential property, in Palace Green, W8. However, the suspects had already left the scene when the call to police was made.”

“At this time we are investigating this as an isolated burglary and we are retaining an open mind around other lines of enquiry.

“Police were called by security within the building to three males who had been present inside the property and a fast-paced investigation is underway to locate the suspects and missing items.”

Tamara, husband Jay Rutland and Sophia, 5, had boarded a private jet to fly off to Lapland for Christmas only hours before the crime took place.