Family posing as customers steal Cartier watch

A LUXURY jewellery boutique in Bryanston, Johannesburg, was robbed by a seemingly ordinary family dressed in traditional attire and posing as customers.

Thanks to social media, the stolen R150 000 Cartier watch was returned.

The female, dressed in an abaya (a full-length outer garment worn by some Muslim women) and a head scarf was caught red-handed on CCTV cameras stealing the Cartier watch.

The owners of Love Maison 33 - a family run business - shared the footage on social media.

Thirty minutes later, the suspects called the store and said they were “sorry”. 

They then sent two minors to return the watch.

In the video, which has been circulating on social media, two women are seen seated inside the store, in front of an array of designer watches, picking the ones they liked.

A man is seen standing behind them. 

In a split second, the woman dressed in the black abaya quickly snatched the Cartier watch when the sales assistants turned their backs. The woman concealed the watch in her abaya and then between her legs.

The crime went unnoticed by the sales assistant as he continued to have a conversation with them without any suspicion. 

Zayan Latib, the owner of the store, said she had never experienced a crime like this before.

Latib had personally helped these customers. She said they requested to only see watches, which she found odd but kept the thought to herself. 

“A family of 5, including a young girl came in posing as customers and asked to see a couple of watches. Based on how they were dressed, I was skeptical but didn’t think too deep into it. 

“They took their time browsing through the expensive watches that we showed them. One of the women requested the price of a different item. I turned my head for a split second and the same woman grabbed a watch and hid it between her legs.”

She said that she had not noticed anything until it was too late and that specific watch was not tagged. 

“She stole a Cartier watch valued at R150 000. She had told us she was from Dubai. We only realised what had happened after they left the store, when they began running. They had  a getaway driver waiting for them.

“We were robbed by what looked like a quiet, unassuming family, people we never imagined would do something like this. It wasn’t a violent crime, which made it even more shocking. I felt blindsided and confused. You don’t expect something so calculated from people who seem so ordinary,” said Latib.

She said she was shocked when the designer watch was returned. 

“Thankfully, the stolen goods was recovered very quickly. We have since made significant improvements to our security to ensure this never happens again.”

Yusuf Abramjee, anti-crime activist, had posted the video on social media, which prompted the return of the watch. 

“Within 30 minutes of posting the video, the suspects called the store and said they were 'sorry'.  They then sent minors to return the expensive watch.

“This syndicate is allegedly involved in a number of similar thefts. They work fast and use distraction and sweet talk, acting as buyers,” said Abramjee.

He said people should always be vigilant as one should not always expect everyone to have good intentions as syndicates of similar nature have been on the rise. 

Latib said no case had been opened against the thieves.

THE POST