London Burglar Steals $300,000 in Antique Watches
If you’re in London and some dude sidles up to you asking if you want to buy a luxury antique watch cheap, it’s best to resist the temptation to view his wares and keep walking. A masked burglar recently pulled a daring eight-minute raid that netted a take of 124 rare vintage pocket watches with an estimated worth of more than $300,000—and he’s still on the loose with the loot.
The antique timepieces were on display at a vintage watch store in north London when the heist took place last week. The nimble thief scaled a two-story antiques market, broke in through a vent in the roof and shimmied down a shaft to enter the shop. The burglar picked three sets of locks and ducked infrared security beams by slithering along the floor before making his escape. Although his planning was almost perfect, the watch robber did get caught on a security camera concealed in the ceiling.
No doubt he will be apprehended in the near future since it can’t be that easy to sell a bunch of rare antique pocket watches, especially after the stolen items and the thief’s photo have been all over the news. The watch-loving crook better enjoy admiring his “collection” while he can.
Luxury Watch Scammer Nabbed Over Rolex
The so far unnamed London culprit has quite a bit in common with Phil Nguyen of Garden Grove, California. On Friday, Nguyen pled guilty to a charge of wire fraud and agreed to make restitution in the amount of $114,191. His crime? A cross-country shopping spree that involved buying more than a million dollars worth of luxury watches using bogus drivers licenses and credit cards.
The fun ended in July when Nguyen was busted in Pennsylvania while attempting to purchase a Rolex 18K Stainless Datejust watch worth $11,700 using a counterfeit California driver’s license and Bank of America Visa card. The transaction aroused the suspicions of alert employees who asked Nguyen to return two days later to pick up the timepiece. When he did, the police were waiting for him with a nice set of bracelets—but not the 18K kind.
The watch-obsessed con man is in custody awaiting sentencing while the investigation into this crook and his accomplices continues. While Nguyen is sitting in jail he can ponder whether a nice Rolex is really worth the loss of his freedom.
