"Initial investigations suggest the girl stole a key from a drawer and then opened a display cabinet to steal the necklace when the three adults — one man and two women — kept staff busy," a police source told the paper. “The three adults posed as big spenders and demanded employees show them jewellery in an apparent move to divert staff attention," said the officer, adding that the necklace in question is encrusted with over 30 diamonds worth more than 100 carats.
The store reported to be at the center of the robbery, the Emperor Jewellery shop in the 1881 Heritage shopping mall, according to AFP refused to confirm it had been the subject of the heist, which was only uncovered later in the day after the robbers had long slipped away.
The SCMP reported that the girl was able to take the necklace off the cabinet's display figure, and into her pocket before being caught on CCTV leaving the shopping mall. Her accomplices, one man and two women, remained inside the mall, and are said to have spent more than 30 minutes in the luxury shop, eventually leaving without making any purchases.
The girl, described as “slimly built” and around 1.40 meters tall, is along with her co-conspirators being hunted by Hong Kong authorities including the region's border police, due to suspicions the group may try to escape the city.
