London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 30, 2025

Tamara Ecclestone heist: Serbia refuses to extradite £26m raid suspect

Tamara Ecclestone heist: Serbia refuses to extradite £26m raid suspect

The extradition from Serbia of a wanted man accused of one of the biggest burglaries in English legal history was refused, the BBC has found.

Known to the Met Police as Daniel Vukovic he is said to have led a series of burglaries on the luxury homes of three celebrities in December 2019.

This included a £25m raid on the home of model Tamara Ecclestone.

Court documents obtained by the BBC show the Met Police applied to extradite him from Serbia last spring.

This first application was made on 14 April 2021 and was brought to the High Court in Belgrade by the Republic of Serbia's specialised department for organised crime.

It was made at the request of the Met Police who wanted Mr Vukovic extradited to be prosecuted for "conspiracy to commit a burglary" and for "conspiracy to launder money".

The extradition was refused on 15 July by a High Court in Belgrade, court documents show.

Months later on 13 October this decision was appealed but again upheld by the High Court in Belgrade.

Details in the document say "Ljubomir Romanov" is a "legal resident" of Serbia and therefore the legal basis for extradition was not met.

It then cites an extradition treaty agreement between Serbia and the UK signed in December 1900 in which each country can deny extradition of its own citizens.

A BBC investigation found a fresh image of Mr Vukovic leaving Heathrow Airport in December 2019, and that he uses at least 19 different aliases.

He has links to countries including Serbia, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia and Peru.

Italian authorities suggest his name is Alfredo Lindley, while government documents in Serbia show the request to extradite him came under another name - Ljubomir Romanov.

In a world exclusive interview the British model spoke for the first time about the raid on her west London mansion

The burglars used crowbars as they spent an hour ransacking the Kensington mansion of Tamara Ecclestone

More than 400 items - including necklaces, watches, earrings and bangles - were stolen


The suspect is believed to have been part of a gang of three other Italians who were jailed last November for their role in raiding the homes of Ms Ecclestone, Frank Lampard and a townhouse belonging to the now-deceased ex-owner of Leicester City Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

In total £26m worth of goods were stolen from the properties.

The BBC has traced Mr Vukovic's last-known movements to the Serbian capital Belgrade


In a BBC Sounds podcast, Met Police Det Con Andrew Payne said: "It's clear Daniel Vukovic had a leading role in the conspiracy.

"The gang have links to Italy. They also have criminal associates in other European countries. It's highly likely that the stolen goods have gone through camps in Milan.

"It's also a fair assumption that the goods are likely to be in Serbia which is the host country where Daniel Vukovic is.

"This is a classic case of it's buried treasure. It's out there somewhere. Someone knows where it is. And at some point some of it has to surface."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
Explosive Email Shows Sarah Ferguson Begged Forgiveness from Jeffrey Epstein After Taking His Money
×