It was not bad enough that 30-something year old Charisse Montes stole her employer’s Rolex and got caught – she did it twice. Montes was working for super-rich Russian Rashid Sardarov and his wife as a domestic cleaner, and they were very happy with her services. The couple was so happy with her work that they forgave her after she stole Mrs Sardarov’s Rolex. The tycoon said that after she was let go, they failed to hire somebody as satisfactory as Montes and rehired the thief. According to the Russian billionaire Charisse Montes had worked for the household for eight years and was a ‘shy, nice, hard-working girl’ and that she apologised for stealing the watch.
Once Bitten, Twice Shy
After being fired, forgiven and rehired Montes did the unthinkable – she stole again. This time the crooked cleaner took eight watches. Perhaps she thought that her employers owed her one for each year of service? Unfortunately for her, the Filipino thief did not cover her tracks. Instead of going to work and pleading innocence until she was proven guilty, Montes made a run for it. Of course Sardarov suspected her guilt when she didn’t show up for work. He tried to get in touch with the AWOL employee through the house manager who got in touch with Montes’ girlfriend Rowena Rosita, who claimed not to know where Montes was.
‘The Watches Were Gifts’, Says the Girlfriend
It was later revealed that Montes and Rosita had pawned the eight timepieces, each worth up to £65,000 at a dodgy pawnbroker in Soho named Mattia Dal-Pont. Although Rosita did admit to pawning the watches, as well as a diamond ring, she claimed that she had no idea it was stolen property and was under the impression that Montes had been given the watches by the very wealthy Sardarovs.
Time for Justice
The Russian billionaire was duly disappointed that the watches, which he had been collecting over the course of several years and were stored in a rotating cabinet in his main bedroom, were stolen by a supposedly ‘trusted’ employee. He hired a private investigator to track the thief down and she was arrested – soon after the pawnbroker was trapped by the police. The trial continues.