As Nave told in an interview with the Ynet portal, five days after the robbery, they received an encrypted message from a person identifying himself as a "representative of the kidnappers." He offered to discuss a deal for the sale of the jewels and limited the time for contact to 24 hours.
During a "series of encrypted conversations" with this representative, the company managed to obtain evidence that he had at least part of the stolen items. Zvik Nave criticized the Louvre for not responding to the offer within six days, stating: "We lost trust in the thieves, and the Louvre missed a real chance to recover the jewels."
The robbery occurred on October 19, when the criminals broke into the museum through a window and smashed the display cases of the Apollo Gallery, where the treasures of the French monarchy were kept. As a result of operational actions, two suspects were detained on October 26, and five more on October 30.
