A 71-year-old housekeeper who spent more than a decade looking after a Jordanian princess’s Belgravia home is on trial accused of stealing precious jewellery from her employer, including a bespoke sapphire and diamond ring and the princess’s wedding ring.
Maria Virgelina Taborda Henao, known as Lina, denies a charge of theft by an employee. Prosecutors allege she took “various items of jewellery” from the property on or before 26 November 2020, and that some of the pieces were later sold at auction.
Opening the prosecution case at Southwark Crown Court, Oliver Wellings told jurors that several of the missing items were allegedly sold through auction houses by the defendant’s nephew, Julian Ramirez, whom he described as a “key conduit for the sale of stolen property”. The court heard Mr Ramirez is said to have transferred £17,835 to Ms Taborda Henao between June 2019 and November 2020.
Jurors were told the princess left London for Jordan in March 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, leaving Ms Taborda Henao — her housekeeper of 11 years — to look after the Belgravia house. She was the only person with permission to handle the princess’s belongings in her absence, the court heard.
The alleged thefts are said to have come to light on 21 November 2020, when Pierre Jeannet, a partner at the celebrated Paris jeweller JAR, telephoned the princess to tell her two pieces of her jewellery were about to go under the hammer in England. She recognised a one-of-a-kind sapphire and diamond ring, made specially for her by JAR, listed in a Canterbury Auction Galleries sale — and then identified further pieces of hers that were being offered for sale, or which had already been sold since 2020.
Police were called, Ms Taborda Henao was arrested and her home was searched. During the search, officers are said to have found the princess’s wedding ring tucked inside a coat. The prosecution said the princess believed she had mislaid the ring “some time ago” and would never have given away such a deeply personal item. Officers also recovered an envelope containing earrings, while a colleague found a jewelled metal necklace in a kitchen cupboard.
When the princess returned to London in May 2021, the court heard, she found much of her jewellery gone, with only costume pieces left behind. She also noticed something wrong with a safe concealed beneath a sink in a cloakroom near the entrance hall: it was locked, the combination no longer worked and the back-up key failed. There were signs, jurors were told, that someone had tried to tamper with the safe, and the items inside had been disturbed.
The court also heard that Mr Ramirez is believed to have flown to Colombia in October 2023 and has not returned since. Ms Taborda Henao, of Hammersmith and Fulham, denies the charge. The trial continues.
How employee theft cases are tried
The charge Ms Taborda Henao faces — theft by an employee — is prosecuted under the Theft Act 1968, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment. Where the accused was placed in a position of trust over an employer’s property, the courts treat that breach of trust as an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing.
At Southwark Crown Court, as in all Crown Court trials in England and Wales, the prosecution opens its case first before a jury of twelve, and it falls to the jury to decide whether the evidence proves the charge beyond reasonable doubt. By pleading not guilty, Ms Taborda Henao has put the prosecution to proof — unlike recent London cases where defendants have admitted the allegations, such as a teenager who pleaded guilty to a premeditated murder in Westminster ahead of sentencing at the Old Bailey.
London’s courts continue to impose significant custodial terms in dishonesty cases: a former Metropolitan Police officer was recently jailed over a “crash for cash” insurance fraud, a reminder that the justice system treats abuses of trust severely.
Belgravia: a magnet for the super-rich
The case has thrown a spotlight on Belgravia, one of the capital’s most exclusive districts. Its sweeping white stucco terraces around Eaton Square and Belgrave Square were laid out in the 19th century by master builder Thomas Cubitt, and the neighbourhood — part of the City of Westminster — remains synonymous with grand garden squares, embassies and multi-million-pound homes.
That concentration of wealth has long made prime central London a target for high-value thefts, from burglaries to insider jobs. Even as the wider market cools — house prices in five prime boroughs have fallen by more than 10 per cent — Belgravia’s rarefied streets continue to attract the super-rich, and those employed to serve them.
The trial is expected to continue this week. Nothing in these proceedings should be taken as establishing guilt: Ms Taborda Henao denies the allegation, and the jury has yet to reach any verdict.
