A German insurer, Allianz SE, has sued the celebrity socialite and heiress to the Hilton Hotels fortune, saying she has ignored several attempts to recover the borrowed jewels.
According to a recent complaint filed in a New York state court, Hilton borrowed the jewellery in 2007 from the Manhattan jeweller Damiani, promising to store it in a safe or vault when she was not using it.
But Allianz said the gems sat unguarded on a closet shelf in Hilton's unlocked Los Angeles mansion when they and $2.7 million (Dh10 million) worth of other jewellery were stolen in a December 2008 burglary while Hilton attended a Hollywood party.
Allianz said Los Angeles police found and returned the jewellery to Hilton after it had already paid Damiani's claim under an insurance policy.
It said it began asking Hilton and two of the companies she controls to return the jewellery, but phone calls and e-mails have been ignored.
Allianz's lawsuit accuses Hilton of negligence and breach of contract.
An official said the lawsuit was "not based on fact", and that none of Hilton's representatives told Allianz that the stolen Damiani jewellery had been returned. "Only costume jewellery was recovered," she said.
The dispute is the latest involving a celebrity and jewellery.
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