An international manhunt has been launched to find a jewel thief accused of being the mastermind behind the biggest burglary in English legal history.
Alfredo Lindley, a 40-year-old Peruvian, is said to have orchestrated raids on the London homes of three celebrities in December 2019, including the Formula One heiress Tamara Ecclestone.
Lindley, whose 19 aliases also include the Serbian “Ljubomir Romanov” and Croatian “Daniel Vukovic”, is accused of stealing about £26 million in jewels, cash and watches from the homes of Frank and Christine Lampard, the Crystal Palace manager Patrick Viera and the family of the late Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.
Scotland Yard said yesterday that Lindley was wanted for questioning about a series of high-value burglaries committed in December 2019 in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
He is known in Italy as Lupin — a fictional gentleman thief that inspired a Netflix series — and police believe he was also the mastermind behind raids at the homes of the late Italian fashion designer Nicola Trussardi and Vieira’s teammate at Inter Milan, Sulley Muntari.
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The burglary at Ecclestone’s home was described as one of the biggest in British history. The thieves escaped with 400 items and £125,000 in cash from the heiress’s 55-bedroom Kensington mansion in December 2019.
Lindley appeared in court as Romanov in Belgrade on August 27. He faced extradition to the UK over the London burglaries but the Serbian authorities rejected the request.
He is believed to be in Belgrade, the Serbian capital. Romanov is listed as the co-owner of a construction company in the city and his Serbian government-issued ID shows his family address is in Obrenovac, a municipality of Belgrade.
Lindley’s alleged gang of thieves is accused of stealing £50,000 of property from the home of the former Chelsea manager Lampard. Almost £1 million of goods was taken from Srivaddhanaprabha’s home. Most of the stolen property has never been recovered.
