Putin Pockets Patriots Ring
The owner of the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft, is missing his 2005 Super Bowl ring, and the bauble appears to have been pocketed by President Putin of Russia.
That is the story that was being pieced together yesterday evening following a report in the Russian press and buzz from an e-mail. In that message, a consultant related details from a businessman who was present at a meeting last weekend between a group of American executives and the steely ex-KGB agent to talk about investment in Russia. According to the account contained in the e-mail and elaborated on to The New York Sun by several sources, Mr. Kraft made the mistake of pulling the diamond-encrusted, 14-karat, white-gold Super Bowl ring off his hand to give his host a closer look.
It was the last time, according to these sources, that the owner of the New England Patriots football team saw the ring, a gaudy piece of jewelry that could easily be sold on eBay at the cost of a small yacht and that its proud owner may not have wished to part with permanently at any price.