After binge-watching the notorious show “Money heist”, the question popped up in my head: “What was the biggest real-life robbery, and was it as spectacular as the series?”
It was the Antwerp diamond heist, and the answer is yes, it was thrilling. It is estimated that the thieves stole more than $100 million worth of loose diamonds, gold, silver, and other jewelry. It took place in Antwerp, Belgium, during the weekend of 15–16 February 2003.
The protagonist was Leonardo Notarbartolo, a charming Italian thief. In February 2003, he was arrested for leading a criminal group. As mentioned before, assets valued at more than $100 million were stolen from an “impenetrable” vault, two floors beneath the Antwerp Diamond Center. It was protected by 10 layers of security, including infrared heat detectors, Doppler radar, a magnetic field, a seismic sensor, and a lock with 100 million possible combinations. Even now policemen can’t explain how the loot was never found. Notarbartolo denied having anything to do with the crime.
The plan, as Notarbartolo himself confessed, was to burn the incriminating evidence. His associate, Speedy, drove off with said evidence that was sitting in a garbage bag, in the back seat of the motorcycle.
There was no reason to worry, the rest of the team was already driving back to Italy with the gems. The loot was never found, but their trash was. He decided to burn the stuff near a shed beside a small pond, but when he headed back to the car, he found Speedy in the middle of a panic attack. "I think someone's coming," Speedy murmured. Notarbartolo glared at him as they got back in the car, convinced that no one would ever find the stuff there.
Arriving in Italy, Notarbartolo was feeling like a king in his palace, and impatience was running through his veins. He couldn’t wait to touch the diamonds. When he opened the first satchel and looked up, bewildered, the plan started to fall apart. It was empty, and so were the others bags. "We've been set up," Notarbartolo said.
August van Camp, a 59-year-old retired Belgian grocer, found a lot of garbage near the E19 highway. The local teenagers once decided to have a party there and burned down a little hut he'd built. It made him fume with anger. When he found the garbage, he phoned the police, who had gotten used to his calls. But when van Camp mentioned Antwerp Diamond Center envelopes, the police came running.
Within hours, the trash began to fill the evidence room at the Diamond Squad headquarters in Antwerp. Looking for immediate clues, a pile of torn paper seemed promising. It didn't take long to reassemble the pieces like a jigsaw puzzle. It was an invoice for a video surveillance system. The buyer: Leonardo Notarbartolo.
The next morning, the police surrounded the Notarbartolos residence in Italy. Acting on the surveillance-system invoice discovered on Van Camp's land, the Belgian diamond detectives had asked the Italian police to search Notarbartolo's house. The Belgian courts came down hard. They found Notarbartolo guilty of orchestrating the heist and sentenced him to 10 years.
Needless to say, the heist was more complex than was presented here, with many more plot twists and genius steps, and you can find the detailed and thorough description in the article named “The Untold Story of the World's Biggest Diamond Heist”, fantastically written by Joshua Davis.
Editor
Lorena Badea
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