A Stewardess from Air France Airline has been arrested after robbing unsuspecting business class passengers of their money and valuables on over 100 long-haul flights. The passengers were robbed as they slept on largely Paris-Tokyo bound flights.
Police from the French boarder launched an investigation into thefts aboard Air France international flights, after reports were made from well to do passengers of missing valuables and large sums of money, including check books and credit cards.
The first report of a theft was made in January 2010, when five passengers complained of losing a total of 4,000 euros (£3,340) during their flight from the Far East.
After six months of investigations, and cross referencing cabin crew with all the flights that had reports of thefts, police seized a 47 year old Stewardess as she stepped off a flight from Tokyo to Paris at Charles de Gaulle airport at 4.30am last Friday. She confessed to 26 separate thefts, but police believe she is responsible for more due to the high number of reports.
The Stewardess known only as Lucie R. robbed the passengers after they dropped their guard due to her professionalism and conscientiousness as she tucked them in for the night and pandered to their every need.
She told police that the Paris to Tokyo route was her favourite as Japanese passengers tended to travel with a substantial amount of cash. Officers found she had stashed the jewelry in a safe deposit box, the haul included a Cartier wedding ring and a diamond encrusted ring. At her home, credit cards and blank travellers’ cheques were found with a substantial amount of money also found in her private bank account.
The woman is in custody awaiting trial and if found guilty will face a ten year prison sentence if convicted. Air France stated that they were not responsible for valuables going missing on route and anything stolen on board a flight would be an insurance matter. Their responsibility ended once everything was stored.
