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Saturday, January 31, 1998

About $1 million in jewelry reported stolen from billionaire's home

DALLAS (AP) -- Billionaire businessman Harold Simmons has launched a worldwide search for about $1 million in jewelry reported stolen from his home.

Among the items reported missing are two gold-and-diamond brooches, a platinum diamond-encrusted cross, and a 40-caret pink sapphire-and-diamond ring.

Simmons placed an advertisement in The Dallas Morning News offering to buy back the items and also tendered an unspecified reward for information leading to the recovery of the jewelry.

Michael Haberer, a private investigator hired by the family, said similar ads featuring various pieces of jewelry would run again in the Dallas newspaper and other newspapers and in jewelry journals aimed at readers in New York, California, Antwerp, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

"The client wishes to buy back some of the items. The other objective is to notify the public there is a reward for the recovery of the jewelry," said Haberer of Dale Simpson and Associates in suburban Richardson, Texas.

The private investigator declined to identify his clients, but Dallas police confirmed that the jewelry being sought was among items reported stolen from the Simmons residence.

Simmons and his wife, Annette, declined to comment about the burglary.

Dallas police spokesman Jim Chandler says the burglary stands out because of the value of the items taken. It is estimated to be worth about $968,000, the same amount as all of the jewelry reported stolen in Dallas burglaries in 1996, he said.

Police said the break-in happened sometime between noon on Jan. 10 and noon on Jan. 11 while the couple was out of town.

Mrs. Simmons told police that someone had broken in through the rear of the house and out of view of an on-site guard, and for unknown reasons, the burglar's entry failed to trigger the home-alarm system. The burglar also evaded guard dogs at the rear of the house, according to the police report.

Dallas Police Detective Jim McClellan said the burglar took at least 100 pieces of jewelry valued at about $1 million from a "secured area" in the bathroom and tampered with nothing else.

Simmons has been embroiled in a bitter legal dispute since 1996 with two of his daughters, who claim he manipulated a family trust for his own gain.

The daughters contend their father has abused his authority as trustee of more than $1 billion in family trusts, of which they are the beneficiaries. They say that Simmons improperly siphoned money from the trusts to buy lavish homes, make contributions to pet causes and purchase jewelry for Mrs. Simmons.

A jury deadlocked on the issue and has been directed to either negotiate a settlement or return to court in March for another trial.