Tamara Ecclestone offers £6m reward for stolen diamonds as BBC documentary identifies suspect Daniel Vukovic

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
The former F1 chief’s daughter was burgled of more than £26m from her Kensington mansion in Britain’s biggest home heist.

Tamara Ecclestone has offered £6million to anyone that can help police retrieve the luxury jewellery haul she lost in Britain’s biggest home burglary.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The daughter of former Formula 1 chief Bernie Ecclestone was on holiday in Lapland in December 2019, when her 57-room Kensington mansion was raided for jewellery, gems and cash.

The burglary saw the 38-year-old lose possessions worth more than £26m, and the BBC has just released a documentary delving into the west London heist.

Following a trial in 2021, three members of a gang were convicted and jailed for 28 years in total, including for the burglaries of the homes of Frank Lampard and the late Leicester City chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Bar a single pair of £6,000 earrings seized from an escort, the whereabouts of their multi-million heist from Ecclestone’s home, however, remain a mystery.

Jay Rutland, Tamara Ecclestone and their daughter Sophia Ecclestone-Rutland in 2015. They were visiting Lapland in 2019 with Sophia when their home was burgled. Credit:  Ian Gavan/Getty ImagesJay Rutland, Tamara Ecclestone and their daughter Sophia Ecclestone-Rutland in 2015. They were visiting Lapland in 2019 with Sophia when their home was burgled. Credit:  Ian Gavan/Getty Images
Jay Rutland, Tamara Ecclestone and their daughter Sophia Ecclestone-Rutland in 2015. They were visiting Lapland in 2019 with Sophia when their home was burgled. Credit: Ian Gavan/Getty Images | Getty Images

‘My daughter won’t sleep alone’

In a series of Instagram story posts on Sunday, Ecclestone vowed to go “Mel Gibson-style” from the film Ransom to try and rescue her items.

“The thought of those disgusting people, rummaging through every room in my house, invading my home, touching my belongings and stealing some of the things most precious to me, means I will never be able to lay my head to rest in that house again with the same sense of security that I once had,” she wrote.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Ecclestone said her daughter “still asks if the burglars are coming back and won’t sleep alone”.

A general view of the security gates at Palace Green, the location of Tamara Ecclestone’s home in Kensington , on December 16, 2019, in London, after thieves stole jewellery reportedly worth £50m. Credit: Leon Neal/Getty ImagesA general view of the security gates at Palace Green, the location of Tamara Ecclestone’s home in Kensington , on December 16, 2019, in London, after thieves stole jewellery reportedly worth £50m. Credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images
A general view of the security gates at Palace Green, the location of Tamara Ecclestone’s home in Kensington , on December 16, 2019, in London, after thieves stole jewellery reportedly worth £50m. Credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images | Getty Images

What happened to the burglars?

After ransacking and fleeing the luxury home in Kensington, the three burglars went to a hotel in Bromley.

There, one of them sent a hotel employee an explicit photo, meaning she saved his number in her phone as “weirdo”.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

This crucial breakthrough led to the police identifying the first suspect: Jugoslav Jovanovic, 23.

Officers then discovered two other suspects: jewel expert Alessandro Maltese, 45, and Alessandro Donati, 44. All three were convicted and imprisoned in 2021.

(l-r) Alessandro Maltese, 45, Jugoslav Jovanovic, 24, and Alessandro Donati, 44,(l-r) Alessandro Maltese, 45, Jugoslav Jovanovic, 24, and Alessandro Donati, 44,
(l-r) Alessandro Maltese, 45, Jugoslav Jovanovic, 24, and Alessandro Donati, 44,

A fourth suspect, Daniel Vukovic, a Serbian national, has been named in court as a potential fourth member of the gang.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He is thought to have fled to Belgrade, where the authorities are refusing to grant his extradition to face trial in London.

“This man thinks he can ride off into the sunset with all the spoils from robbing my family and I,” Ecclestone wrote on Instagram. “Not so fast.”

Who is Tamara Ecclestone?

Married to Jay Rutland, Ecclestone is the daughter of former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and model Slavica.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Crown Prosecution Service recently authorised a charge against the billionaire Mr Ecclestone, 91, for fraud by false representation for assets worth more than £400m.

Ms Ecclestone was born in Milan, Italy, but schooled in London. The 38-year-old has earned recognition through modelling and TV presenting.

She hosted the coverage of the 2009 Formula 1 Season for Sky Sports Italia, and in 2017 she was the centre of reality show Tamara’s World.

Who Stole Tamara Ecclestone’s Diamonds? aired on BBC Three on Thursday.

It is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.