A fraud posing as a princess from the United Arab Emirates has pulled off a daring con at a high-end Paris jewelry store, replacing precious stones worth €1.6 million ($1.78 million) with worthless bouillon cubes.

The imposter carried out the impressive switcheroo on Wednesday evening when she convinced staff in the jewelers on Rue Saint-Honore that she was a member of the Emirati royal family.

The store manager spent a full hour showing her the finest pieces the shop had to offer and the client selected several items which were supposedly placed in a box that was then safely stashed in a safe.

The supposed princess said she would transfer the money to the store but by Thursday evening it hadn’t arrived. The manager reopened the box and was horrified to discover that the incredibly valuable jewelry had been replaced with a bunch of cheap stock cubes, French news outlet LCI reports.

Police believe the woman pulled off the swindle while pretending to make a phone call to her husband. Investigators are now trying to track down the hustler who carried out the audacious scam.

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