2003 heist in Antwerp, Belgium From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Antwerp diamond heist, dubbed the "heist of the century",[1] was the largest ever diamond heist and one of the largest robberies in history. Thieves stole loose diamonds, gold, silver and other types of jewelry valued at more than $100 million.[2][3] It took place in Antwerp, Belgium, during the weekend of 15–16 February 2003. Though arrests were made and time was served, most of the diamonds stolen remain unrecovered.[4]
 The Antwerp Diamond Centre | |
| Date | February 15–16, 2003 |
|---|---|
| Location | Antwerp, Belgium |
| Coordinates | 51.2162°N 4.4177°E |
| Type | Heist |
| Participants | Leonardo Notarbartolo |
| Outcome | More than $100 million of property stolen |
| Missing | Diamonds, gold, silver and other types of jewelry |
| Sentence | 10 years imprisonment |
The vault that housed the diamonds is situated two floors below the main floor. It was protected by multiple security mechanisms, including a lock with 100 million possible combinations, infrared heat detectors, a seismic sensor, Doppler radar, and a magnetic field. The building itself had a private security force[1] and was located in the heavily guarded and monitored Antwerp diamond district.
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Leonardo Notarbartolo had rented a sparsely furnished office for approximately 25,000 Belgian francs ($700) per month in the Antwerp World Diamond Centre. This was a technique pioneered by New York City-based criminal authority "Mr. Stan", Vojislav Stanimirović. It was first accomplished in New York's diamond center many years prior to this robbery. It included creating access to the safe deposit box located in the vault beneath the building. The method provided a tenant ID card offering 24-hour access to the building.[5] There, he posed as an Italian diamond merchant to gain credibility. The robbery required eighteen months of preparation.[4] The group used a variety of methods to overcome the security systems and left investigators confused as to how they had managed to successfully gain entry without triggering the security systems:[1]
The group was caught after Notarbartolo and “Speedy” went to dispose of the evidence of their plans, planning to burn it in France. Speedy was overcome with panic at the prospect of transporting such incriminating evidence and insisted they dispose of it in a nearby forest. However, “Speedy” suffered a panic-attack and disposed of the evidence poorly, hurling it into the bushes and mud rather than burning it. Notarbartolo was busy burning his own evidence and when he discovered what “Speedy” had done, he decided it would take too long to gather everything up and they needed to leave, confident that nobody would find their rubbish. A local hunter owned the land and called the police when he found the rubbish the next day (believing it to be caused by local teenagers he had previously had disputes with). When he mentioned that some of the rubbish consisted of envelopes from the Antwerp Diamond Centre, the police immediately investigated. The evidence from the rubbish was enough to allow the police to gain a lead and they were eventually able to identify Notarbartolo from security footage from a nearby grocery store where he had purchased a sandwich (a receipt for the sandwich was amongst the rubbish).[1]
After the robbery, Notarbartolo and his team stole the security footage to conceal their identities.[6] More than 123 out of 160[2][3][7] safe deposit boxes were forced open, each of which was made of steel and copper and had both a key lock and combination lock.[1][8]
The theft was carried out by a five-man team led by Leonardo Notarbartolo, a professional thief who was skilled in social manipulation.[1] Notarbartolo had rented space in the diamond district, and was arrested after being connected to the crime by DNA evidence from a partially eaten salami sandwich found near the crime scene.[9][10]
In addition to Notarbartolo, the team consisted of at least four other members, whom Notarbartolo gave aliases during interviews, though he refused to specify whom each alias referred to:[1]
Notarbartolo was found guilty of orchestrating the heist. He is considered to be the leader of a ring of Italian thieves called "La Scuola di Torino" (The School of Turin),[3][12] who carried out the crime. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the court of appeal of Antwerp in 2005,[1] but had since been released on parole in 2009.[13] In 2011 a European Arrest Warrant was issued against him after he was found to have violated his parole conditions. One of these conditions was that he needed to compensate the victims of the heist, which he never made any attempt to do. As a consequence, he was arrested again in 2013 at the Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris during a layover from the United States to Turin, and was made to serve the remainder of his prison sentence until 2017.[14]
Tavano, D’Onorio, and Finotto, each, got five years in prison.[15][16]
Notarbartolo's wife, Adriana Crudo,[17] and Antonino Falletti were tried, and Falletti's Dutch wife Judith Zwiep was arrested.[18][19][20]
Notarbartolo claimed in an interview with Wired magazine that a diamond merchant hired them for the heist. He claims that they actually stole approximately €18 million ($20 million) worth of loot, and that the robbery was part of an insurance fraud. Someone knowing the incumbent robbery could have taken the diamonds and then claimed the insurance on them, hence gaining from the insurance fraud.[6]
Due to the fact that the vault itself was uninsured, as the insurance company realised the security flaws and would have never given it an insurance policy, there was actually very little insurance money involved, which casts doubt on his story.[21]
The heist is the subject of the book Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History[22] by Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell.[21]
The first episode of the Audible Original Audio Series "HEIST with Michael Caine" gives an overview of the theft, largely taken from the book.
The story of this diamond heist was featured on The Travel Channel's “Mysteries At The Museum” Season 16/Episode 4 titled “Project Vortex, Diamond Heist and Tinseltown, NJ”, narrated by series host Don Wildman.
The story was also featured on TV Series "History's Greatest Heists" Season 1 / Episode 1 : titled "The Antwerp Diamond Heist", narrated by Pierce Brosnan.
Paramount Pictures optioned the rights to create a film about the heist, which have since expired. It was to be produced by J. J. Abrams.[13][23][24][25]
BBC World Service podcast show, The Outlook, produced an audio episode, The detective and the diamond heist, describing the incident and aftermath.[26]
Amazon released "Everybody Loves Diamonds", a series based on the Antwerp Diamond Center heist on October 13th, 2023 starring Kim Rossi Stuart. [27]
