Israeli company tasked with tracking down the Louvre museum robbers

The Israeli intelligence firm CGI Group has been hired to assist in capturing the robbers of the Louvre museum in Paris, the German newspaper Bild reported Monday.

The company, which previously helped capture the perpetrators of the major jewel heist in Dresden, will now try to track down the Paris burglars as well.

Zvika Nave, CEO of CGI Group, told Bild: “We usually do not comment on our customers or our activities in Israel or abroad in the media. In this case, however, we were exceptionally asked by the Louvre Museum to help identify those involved in the robbery and to recover stolen art treasures.”

The security firm's name has also been mentioned in the case of the kidnapping of the children of millionaire heiress Christina Block.

A former German agent claimed in a letter to German authorities in early 2025 that former Shin Bet head and CGI President Yaakov Peri, 81, was the one who assembled the team that kidnapped Block's children.

Peri denied the allegations, and CGI filed a defamation lawsuit against the German agent Werner Mauss.

At the end of August, Yaakov Peri's name first surfaced in the trial taking place in Hamburg, Germany, against a wealthy restaurateur accused of kidnapping her children from her ex-husband during a custody dispute. It has now emerged that one of the documents attached to the case claims that Peri hired eight Israelis to carry out the kidnapping.

Zvika Nave, CEO of CGI Group for Security Consulting, denied any involvement in the kidnapping of Christina Block’s children.

"We have nothing to do with this story, not the slightest. I have no idea how the CGI Group's name got involved in this," he said in response to Der Spiegel.

Christina Block has been on trial since mid-July on charges including child abduction and false imprisonment. She is accused of orchestrating the kidnapping of her own children but denies all charges.

Six others were indicted alongside her, including her current partner, former sports commentator Gerhard Delling, and an Israeli named Tal Shoham, who admitted to carrying out the kidnapping but claimed he believed he was rescuing the children for their mother.

Recently, the attorney for Block’s ex-husband asked in court whether Christina Block was aware that €7 million was allegedly paid to CGI Group for the kidnapping. He also mentioned the company’s president, Yaakov Peri. This appears to be based on a letter submitted to the court by former German intelligence agent Werner Mauss, who alleged that Peri recruited eight Israelis for the abduction.

If Block is convicted, she could face up to 10 years in prison. Two other Israelis were also mentioned in the case; they reportedly left Germany before being arrested. They were identified as David Ram Barkai and Keren Tenenbaum. The kidnapping took place on New Year's Eve 2023/2024.

The Israelis allegedly attacked the children's father, dragged the boy and girl into a forest, crossed a stream, and put them into a car. The children's mouths were reportedly taped shut, and one of them was tied up. They were allegedly told: “Stay quiet, or we’ll kill you.”