Movies like Ocean's Eleven and The Italian Job can make even the most law-abiding citizens daydream about pulling off a heist of their own, but crimes in real life rarely go as they do in the movies. Biggest Diamond Robbery Ever Recorded On February 25, 2005, two disguised men entered the airport in Amsterdam. None of the lost baubles have turned up. To this day, Doudou claims that the real ringleader, whom he won’t snitch on, is still free—and conceivably a Pink Panther. Thought to be the biggest diamond heist ever, two men in stolen KLM airline uniforms hijack a truck laden with uncut diamonds on the airport tarmac. Harry Winston customers typically peruse pieces in comfortable sitting rooms appointed with blue velvet and gold accents. Convicted of orchestrating the heist, Notarbartolo served 10 years in prison before being released on parole, but the plunder he and his accomplices stole has never been found. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. The crew dynamited their way into the vault, stole $30 million worth of cash and valuables, and fled . February 2003: Antwerp Diamond Center Though police investigators gathered plenty of evidence none of them was useful and had no connection with the case. It’s each person for themselves.”, “No,” replied Kachaner, “because one might think—”. It would soon vanish, along with all the other rocks in the store. The driver, an inebriated 42-year-old man named Farid Allou, was coming from a neighboring commune in the northeastern Parisian suburbs called Noisy-le-Sec. “What I did, I was the best.”, His area of expertise includes shutting off alarms, picking locks, and opening vaults filled with jewels. No traffic lights or rules of civic engagement could hold him back—at least until he spied those blue lights in his rearview mirror. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. When three well-dressed women sauntered into the Harry Winston jewelry store on Paris’ ritzy Avenue Montaigne on December 4, 2008, employees thought nothing of it. Due to fear, they obeyed the order which paved way for his robbery. “He was almost blaming it on Harry Winston,” she says. He wore a bob, a bucket hat, atop his ski mask. The employees were told to go to work the next day as a normal day or their families would be killed. Scott Andrew Selby, a Harvard Law grad and diamond expert, and Greg Campbell, This article is more than 1 year old. Wiping their eyes, employees told police that, apart from the name Farid, they’d also overheard a fellow gang member being called Voldemort—a Harry Potter reference that, in the midst of a Harry Winston break-in, telegraphed a measure of clever self-awareness. Explore five major jewel heists of recent years. The largest unsolved bank robbery in the history of the UK or whole of Europe occurred in December 2004. But none of the stolen jewellery in Britain's largest unsolved gems heist was ever recovered. Right before workers closed up shop on the evening of August 11, 1994, three masked men wielding machine guns forced their way into the jewelry store within the Carlton Hotel in Cannes, France. In the lead-up to the first robbery, Djennad went regularly to a nearby gym in Enghien. There are often cinematic elements to the Pink Panthers’ stickups, such as To Catch a Thief-style speedboat getaways on the Côte d’Azur. Midway up the stairs, they pulled out weapons, including a hand grenade. “He took responsibility [for his part], but wouldn’t rat on the brains.”, On the stand, Allou spoke of how he’d changed since the heists, and not for the better. Because prosecutors believed he was the leader of the group and considered him a security threat, Doudou watched the trial unfold from the confines of a securitized glass compartment. On the mantel of his office fireplace is a quote by a World War II French resistance fighter: “It’s so easy to accuse institutions! Presents an account of the largest diamond heist in history as a group known as "The School of Turin" stole half a billion dollars in diamonds and other valuables from the Antwerp Diamond Center in Belgium. A hostess greeted the foursome and guided them up the main staircase. He claimed to have gotten the wad (all 500 and 200 euro bills) from an acquaintance in a bar, whom he wouldn’t name. He and his girlfriend soon find themselves pawns in a criminal mastermind's dangerous game. The guards were given two different duties; outside ones had the keys for the office of Ulster King and the Vicars had keys for storeroom where these jewels were kept. “There’s no treatment, you know you’re going to croak,” he has said, “so you want to feel the essential marrow of life.”. Mysteries are so overwhelming that we get involved in them and relates them with us. That would make the Schipol crime, which remains unsolved, the largest diamond heist in history. Whether picking padlocks or climbing the walls of high-rise apartments, finding gaps in a museum's surveillance routine or discussing home invasions in ancient Rome, A Burglar's Guide to the City has the tools, the tales, and the x-ray ... The next to arrive was manager Matthieu Brichet, who’d driven to work with two of the store’s hostesses. Almost three decades earlier, in September 1980, the 45-carat Marlborough diamond - worth more . A heist is a crime with a large amount of money, jewelry, art or other valuables stolen. Committing the perfect heist is a challenging task, and to pull off a smooth score, it requires lots of patience, hard work and guts. Skeletons in the Closet is an unsolved mysteries podcast hosted by Katie and perpetual guest Joe, featuring many many cups of tea and the occasional conspiracy theory. The Diamond Casino Heist gives you three distinct approaches to initially choose from, with multiple ways to execute your chosen approach. He’d brag in the locker room about his job working among models and celebrities—and about security lapses he’d noticed. Sensing that something wasn’t right, he turned back. Case Closed: Directed by Dick Lowry. Doris's criminal exploits went unsolved well into the 1970s—partly because the stores did not want to admit . Prosecutors encouraged Allou to condemn his former best friend, but he refused, speaking only of their relationship as terminated. This can take the form of either a burglary or a robbery, the difference in English and Welsh law being that a robbery uses force (which means that some of the heists commonly known as robberies were actually burglaries). But despite the lack of evidence, there were suspects. By Steve Seigh. The 5 biggest jewelry heists in history. Photograph by Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images. They robbed the bank having money equivalent to $53 million in today’s dollars. 3. At that moment, he was free: perhaps the most free he’d ever been in his life. He speaks English, albeit in a glottal, Peter Sellers-esque French accent. On February 16, 2003, years of planning culminated in a break-in at the Antwerp Diamond Center, where burglars relieved 100 . These heists aren't just unsolved, but mysterious and fascinating that we can just picture ourselves sitting on the edge of our seats already. At least one gemstone shattered when they tried to extract it from its clamps. To this date the Curaçao gold heist remains unsolved. The only other words staff could remember them uttering were “Zarca” and “Ac.”, Beyond that, the criminals left almost no clues behind. The informant provided the names Farid Allou and Doudou Yahiaoui. They were disguised as utility workmen in painter’s coveralls. The castle was constructing a strongroom where these jewels were to be stored. On the night of Oct. 29, 1964, Murphy and two of his surfing buddies pulled off one of the most famous -- and in retrospect, stupid -- jewel heists in American History. French courtroom reporters described his presence as “quasi-demonic.” Prosecutors detailed how they’d found a number of the stolen jewels from the second heist as well as 800,000 euros inside a plaster wall in his compound. We don’t ask ourselves if the disaster wasn’t caused by the moral or general character defect, rather than the regime.”, In June, Fourré and his team were still hearing appeals from the fences involved in the second robbery. They passed through the safety vestibule, and he turned off the general alarm. the intruder theory And another reportedly landed in a most intriguing place. The Strange Case Study of H.H. “Patrick worked in construction, he didn’t fit the bill,” Djennad said. That store was in Enghien-les-Bains, which is where police went next.

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