Air passenger robbed after she's forced to check £100,000 of jewellery

Wealthy Rita Lamberg, who told airport staff she was carrying £100,000-worth of jewellery in her hand luggage was robbed of the stones after being ordered to put her bag in the hold.

By Rosa Prince, New York

2:42PM GMT 14 Feb 2012

Ms Lamberg, 69, a part-time poker player, was stopped at the boarding gate at New York's JFK airport and warned that her handbag was too large to carry on with her on her flight.

She persuaded security staff to let her take the bag on board by explaining that it contained jewellery worth $160,000 (£101,000), and that she did not want to let it out of her sight on her journey to Las Vegas via Pheonix, Arizona.

Gate staff allowed her to board the US Airways plane, but before take-off an airline worker approached her and ordered her to hand over the bag so it could be stowed in the hold.

When Mrs Lamberg and her boyfriend landed in Phoenix, where they were due to change planes for Las Vegas, they collected the bag from the luggage carousel - but it appeared to have been ransacked.

Jewellery including a ladies' diamond-encrusted Rolex watch worth $40,000 (£25,000), a 6-carat diamond ring set in white gold worth $60,000 (£38,000), and a $25,000 (£16,000) diamond ring with blue sapphires, were all missing.

Mrs Lamberg, a psychotherapist from Long Island, New York, who had been traveling to take part in a poker tournament, has offered a $10,000 (£6,400) reward for the recovery of her jewelry.

She admitted that tipping airport staff off to the contents of her bag may not have been wise.

"I told the gate attendant: 'Listen to me, I have more than $100,000 worth of jewellery here,'" she said.

On being ordered to hand over the bag, Mrs Lamberg admitted she was "nervous" about what would happen to her jewels. But she was complied reluctantly because other passengers were waiting to take their seats.

"[The worker] looked at me and said: 'You have a choice. You can either get off the plane . . . or [give over the bag] and take your seat. Nobody's going to touch your luggage,'" she told the New York Post.

A spokesman for US Airways said the matter was being investigated.

Source:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/