Suspect wanted over £26million burglaries at London homes of Brit celebrities including Tamara Ecclestone is arrested in Serbia

A man wanted for looting £26 million worth of valuables from the London homes of celebrities including Tamara Ecclestone has been arrested in Serbia – four years after the biggest domestic robbery in British history.

In a series of raids in 2019, thieves also hit the homes of ex-Chelsea player Frank Lampard and Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the late former owner of Leicester City.

A gang of four men raided Miss Ecclestone's £70 million home, and Jugoslab Jovanovic, Alessandro Maltese and Alessandro Donati were later arrested and jailed for a total of 28 years at Isleworth Crown Court in November 2021.

Their suspected leader Daniel Vukovic, who is the BBC reports is also called Ljubomir Romanov and has assumed at least 19 identities, was at large and is said to be in Serbia.

Now a man suspected of being a member of the gang has been arrested in Belgrade for money laundering offences, the Metropolitan Police said.

Tamara Ecclestone, daughter of F1 magnate Bernie Ecclestone, was the victim of a major robbery in 2019

This handout shows a selection of watches stolen from Miss Ecclestone's £70 million home during the devastating raid

The raid was carried out at Ms Ecclestone's home in west London, which is pictured outside with Christmas decorations in this photo

The suspect, referred to only by his initials Lj. R in Serbian media is accused of being part of an organized criminal gang in Serbia along with five others, including a man wanted in connection with a series of robberies in Switzerland.

He is accused of giving money obtained through criminal activities to other members of the group, who then invested it in luxury real estate and cars in Serbia.

The Met said the six arrests in Belgrade took place as part of an international money laundering investigation involving officers from the London Defense Forces.

“One of the men, aged in his 50s, was wanted by detectives investigating a series of high-value burglaries committed in Kensington and Chelsea in December 2019,” it added.

In December 2019, a gang of four thieves left a trail of destruction through Miss Ecclestone's home while she was on holiday in Lapland with her husband, Jay Rutland, and their daughter Sophia.

The criminals entered through the garden before hiding from security cameras behind a child's Wendy House. The gang then smashed open a window to enter the home.

They then ransacked the house, throwing Christmas decorations around, ripping open doors, causing destruction in every room of the house and destroying furniture over the course of an hour before they were interrupted by a security guard who went to investigate unarmed and the thieves fled.

Tamara Ecclestone appears in the new BBC Three documentary 'Who Stole Tamara Ecclestone's Diamonds?' and reveals that she will always worry about being safe at home

A selection of the jewels stolen by the gang from Miss Ecclestone's country house. The circled image shows the bracelet that Tamara's husband Jay bought her when their child Sophie was born. her daughter's name is spelled out in diamonds and was presented while Tamara was in hospital

Tamara Ecclestone and husband Jay Rutland pictured at the 9th annual Global Gift Gala at the Rosewood Hotel in London in November 2018. The couple were on holiday with their daughter Sophia when the raid occurred

Ms Ecclestone called the gang 'disgusting' and told the BBC last year that seeing the faces of those responsible was 'a bit terrifying'.

“Knowing that such a person has been roaming around your house helping themselves to my most precious valuables is just a terrible feeling. I feel like I can't get those faces out of my head now.

“Our lives will certainly never be the same because there are always worries about the one thing I never worried about: being safe in this house.

“I was worried about so many other scenarios and situations. All I know is that there's still one of them out there and that's probably one of the things that's really hard to deal with.”

She also revealed that several pieces of jewelry had sentimental value, such as a bracelet Jay bought her when their child Sophie was born that was encrusted with diamonds spelling out their daughter's name.

Her mother, Slavica Ecclestone, also gave her the diamond earrings she owned when her daughter was in her 20s, which Tamara has since kept and have now disappeared.

“They are irreplaceable to me because they have such sentimental value,” she added. “(These) are the things that hurt the most because they are the memories of the most special moments in my life.”

A man, said to be Daniel Vukovic, pictured at Heathrow is suspected of having fled after the robberies

Gang members Alessandro Maltese (left) and Alessandro Donati (right) were also jailed in 2019 for their roles in the series of raids

Jugoslav Jovanovic (pictured in his police mugshot) was jailed for his part in the 2019 raids

Speaking to the BBC, Jay said: 'In terms of the amount that was stolen, it was around 450 different items.

'All stolen jewelery and watches were excluded from the insurance. The total monetary value of everything stolen was just over £20 million.

“After (the thieves) had been in there for an hour, after they ransacked every room. The guard hears a noise and goes to investigate, he doesn't sound the alarm, he doesn't arm himself with a weapon, he doesn't do anything. He just goes to investigate.

'He continues upstairs where he encounters the three intruders. He apparently chases them downstairs and at one point a fire extinguisher is thrown at him which misses.

“And all three intruders are able to escape into the night with all their bags.”

Most of the stolen jewelry, watches and other valuables have never been recovered.