The Antwerp diamond heist , dubbed "the robber of the century", until that point was one of the greatest diamonds in history. The thieves stole loose diamonds, gold, and other jewelry worth over $ 100 million. The robbery took place over the weekend of 15-16 February 2003.
Video Antwerp diamond heist
Site
The safes that hold the diamonds are located two floors below the main floor. It is protected by several security mechanisms, including locks with 100 million possible combinations, infrared heat detectors, seismic sensors, Doppler radar, and magnetic fields. The building itself has the power of personal security.
Maps Antwerp diamond heist
Robbery
Leonardo Notarbartolo has rented an office destined for about 25,000 Belgian francs ($ 700) per month at AWDC. This is a technique pioneered by the Serbian criminal authority based in New York City "Mr. Stan", Vojislav Stanimirovi. It was first performed at the New York diamond center many years before this robbery. This includes creating access to safe deposit boxes located in the vault below the building. This method also provides tenant identity cards that offer 24 hour access to the building. There, he serves as an Italian diamond merchant to gain credibility. After the robbery, Notarbartolo and his team stole a security tape to hide their identity. More than 123 of the 160 safe storage boxes are forced to open, each made of steel and copper and has a lock and combination lock.
Performers
The theft was believed to have been done by a five-man team led by Leonardo Notarbartolo. Notarbartolo had rented space in the diamond district, and was arrested after being connected with a crime with DNA evidence of a partially eaten salami sandwich found near the scene.
He was found guilty for masterminding the theft. He is considered the leader of an Italian thief ring called "La Scuola di Torino" (School of Turin), who commits a crime. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but has since been released on parole.
Insurance fraud
Notarbartolo claimed in an interview with Wired magazine that a Jewish diamond merchant hired them for the theft. He claims that they actually stole around the loot worth EUR18 million ($ 20 million), and that robbery is part of insurance fraud.
Due to the fact that the vault itself is not insured, since the insurance company is aware of the security flaws and will never give it an insurance policy, there is actually very little insurance money involved, which raises doubts on the story.
Recovery
Diamond still has not been found.
Legacy
Robbery is the subject of Flawless's book: In The Largest Diamond Heist in History by Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell. [1]
The story of the theft of this diamond is shown in Season Channel's Season Channel Season 13/Episode 4 titled "Project Vortex, Diamond Heist and Tinseltown, NJ", narrated by host series Don Wildman.
Paramount Pictures has the right to make a movie about theft. This is expected to be produced by J.J. Abrams.
See also
- Schiphol Airport's diamond abduction, took place on 25 February 2005 with an estimated EUR75 million ($ 118 million) stolen.
- 2015 Hatton Garden burglary safe deposit, burglary jewel in London with £ 20 million stolen
- 2013 stealing of Belgian diamonds
- List of lost treasure
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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