There were 100 million possible combinations. Last updated on 9/30/2013. But that's exactly what Notarbartolo did. Notarbartolo se vrtil na msto inu a vlastnm om nevc . Notarbartolo has consistently refused to identify his accomplices, but all evidence indicates that D'Onorio is the Genius. Notarbartolo, who was a tenant of the Diamond Centre, was found guilty of orchestrating the heist. When the guard finished dialing the combination, he inserted the vault's key. A pile of torn paper seemed promising. But in those muffled flashes, they could glimpse their duffel bags overflowing with gold bars, millions in Israeli, Swiss, American, European, and British currencies, and leather satchels that contained the mother lode: rough and polished diamonds. The streets would fill with people soon, and they needed to transfer their bags into Notarbartolo's car. A typical conversation: "The kids have made a mess on my land again. That brought the total value of the heist to about $100 million. Armored cars idled tensely while burly couriers with handguns wheeled away small black suitcases. At a glance, it looked like a simple highlighter, but the cap contained a miniaturized digital camera capable of storing 100 high-resolution images. Dec 29 2022 Length: 24 mins Podcast Listen for free View show details Summary In 2003, Leonardo Notarbartolo (The Mastermind), and his crew of master thieves, (Speedy, The Monster, The Genius and The King of Keys) successfully carried out The Antwerp Diamond Heist, the largest diamond robbery in history of the world. It would take hours to gather everything up and burn it. In February 2003, Notarbartolo was arrested for heading a ring of Italian thieves. The Dunbar Armored robbery In 1997, six men pulled off what remains the biggest cash heist in the history of the United States. Notarbartolo nods and smiles faintly, the laugh lines crinkling around his blue eyes. Was $100 million stolen as the police estimate, or just $20 million as Notarbartolo insists? There was videotape strewn all over the place. His biggest problem was that he needed to go back to Belgium; the rental car was due in Antwerp the next day. In 2003, Leonardo Notarbartolo (The Mastermind), and his crew of master thieves, (Speedy, The Monster, The Genius and The King of Keys) successfully carried out The Antwerp Diamond Heist, the largest diamond robbery in history of the world. His granddaughter had accidently turned off the ringer the night before. Location along the E19 motorway north of Brussels where Speedy dumped the garbage bag of evidence. Notarbartolo punched it, and his rented Peugeot 307 sped south toward Brussels. His age set him apart from the othershe looked like somebody's grandfather. For an initial payment of 100,000 euros, Notarbartolo would answer a simple question: Could the vault in the Antwerp Diamond Center be robbed? In his thirties, he began to assemble teams of thieves, each with their own specialty. May 25, 2022. His wife decided to come along; she hadn't seen much of him lately. The vault door stood imposingly before them. "Maybe we could walk a little?". The others on the team hadn't wanted Speedy in on this onethey said he was a liability. His name: Ferdinando Finottothe man most likely to be the Monster. Vicenzo Peruggia, daring character who stole and smuggled Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa by dressing as a senior officer. Notarbartolo glared at him. He presented himself as a gem importer based in Turin, Italy, and scheduled meetings with numerous dealers. revenues. The floor was strewn with wads of cash and velvet-lined boxes. As usual, his 3-year-old granddaughter played with his cell phone and made him laugh. News Leonardo Notarbartolo known as organiser of the "diamond robbery of the century" was released from prison. Van Camp watched with satisfaction. If there is an organized-crime link, Notarbartolo might be inventing a story about the Jewish diamond dealer to distract attention from what really happened. The other robbers in The School of Turin got five years each. It never occurred to the detectives that one of the robbers would walk right back into the district. There is still plenty of mystery surrounding Notarbartolo's heist, not the least of which is the fact that the diamonds themselves still have not been found. Since they had memorized the layout of the vault in the replica, they worked in the dark, turning on their flashlights only for split secondsenough to position the drill over the next box. . Once the copper wires were exposed, he clipped a new, precut piece of wire between the inbound and outbound cables. The three main blocks of the district bristled with video cameras: Every inch of street and sky appeared to be under watch. The lab techs also bagged a half-eaten salami sandwich. The heist wouldn't be discovered until guards checked the vault on Monday morning. A heat-sensing infrared detector monitored the terrace, but he approached it slowly from behind a large, homemade polyester shield. Their cargo: De Beers' monthly shipment of diamonds, worth millions. At home, he punched in the number for the police and asked to lodge a complaint. Notarbartolo and Speedy just had to burn the incriminating evidence sitting in a garbage bag in the backseat.Notarbartolo pulled off the highway and turned onto a dirt road that led into a dense thicket. Each box had 17,576 possible combinations. 36. He bought small stones, paid cash, dressed well, and cheerfully mangled the French language. In Notarbartolo's jacket pocket, his phone flashed but made no sound. External security camera, The Vault7. In Crime, diamonds, Dope, money, People, Style , Leonardo Notarbartolo: The Worlds Biggest Diamond Heist, Click Here for ABC News Primetime Antwerp Diamond Heist, Click Here for G Manifesto: The Complete Guide to Burglary, Click Here for How to Swoop Girls and Influence People (Australia Style). But Speedy was having trouble. According to the dealer, he could disable any kind of alarm. Over the past 14 weeks, we have met seven times in the prison visiting room, and yet questions remain. With each spin, the combination came to rest on a number. If so what happened to him? Join Facebook to connect with Leonardo Notarbartolo and others you may know. The fifth member was never caught. "This is a ridiculous time to be having a panic attack," Notarbartolo muttered. Van Camp's irritation increased. Peys stepped on a diamond-encrusted bracelet. It was hard to see in the dark, but the spot seemed abandoned. As a teenager, he stole cars and learned to pick locks. Speedy was stomping through the mud, hurling paper into the underbrush. The Genius used this custom-made slab of aluminum to reposition the magnetic field away from the vault door. There is a sense of urgency. No algorithm. During business hours, the door was actually left open, leaving only a steel grate to prevent access. Each could then claim that their gems were stolen and collect the insurance while secretly keeping their stones. With the cell phone records and the peculiarly precise salami sandwich evidence, the Belgian detectives persuaded French police to raid the home of Finotto's girlfriend on the French Riviera. "I'll do the rest.". A security camera transmitted his movements to the guard station, and the feed was recorded on videotape. Did he exist? The loot was never found, but based on circumstantial evidence, Notarbartolo was sentenced to 10 years. He puts his hands on the table. They headed out, and once they were clear of the district, the dealer picked up the conversation. Though he's an inmate and wears the requisite white prisoner jacket, Notarbartolo radiates a sunny Italian charm. The dealer introduced them, though Notarbartolo refuses to reveal their names, referring to them only by nicknames. The armed escorts fanned out on foot around the armored truck to form a perimeter. Excellent story of the Heist of the Antwerp Diamond Center: It was February 16, 2003 a clear, frozen Sunday evening in Belgium. As far as Notarbartolo could tell, the dealer had reconstructed it based on the photographs he had provided. It was 6 o'clock on Sunday evening. Yet he maintains that the true story. They resisted the urge to examine their haul; they were running out of time. Everybody had a lot of questions for the dealer. Get back in the car, Notarbartolo ordered. Still, the men were cautious. 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. When he got there, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The reality, Notarbartolo says, is that he thought the vault was impregnable. He was right on schedule. The receipt had a time-stamp. It was a business card that bore the address and phone number of Elio D'Onorio, an Italian electronics expert tied to a series of robberies. Notarbartolo, widely recognized as the ringleader of a band of thieves known as the School of Turin, served time in a Belgian prison for the Antwerp heist. I went on the road to find exactly how. They waited at the bar until closing, drinking espressos and then beer. Every second he was there would raise the ambient temperature. They had anticipated a haul in the tens of millions each. Notarbartolo stepped inside the vault. It was now up to him to disable the remaining systems. Leonardo notarbartolo, the man found guilty of being the mastermind thief behind an antwerp diamond heist that took place in february 2003, was caught last week with an unexplained large amount of rough diamonds during a random police check in italy. when a guy is too busy for a relationship. he asked. According to Belgian police, the robbers failed to take everything as there had been too much valuables to carry. About 18 months earlier, in the summer of 2001, Leonardo Notarbartolo sipped an espresso at a caf on Hoveniersstraat, the diamond district's main street. "I want to introduce you to some people," he said, unlocking the battered front door. Magnetic sensor6. His tone had changed however. The $20 million found by the thieves belonged to traders not in on the scam. Notarbartolo insists they ended up with merely $20 million . Trapped in Silicon Valleys Hidden Caste System. Notarbartolo punched it, and his rented Peugeot 307 sped south toward Brussels. My client spent six years in prison including the period of detention, Notarbartolo attorney said. A wave of anxiety swept the room. Peys and De Bruycker were stunned. ", "I demand that you send someone to investigate.". However, the show does derive certain elements from real life. The only sound was the steady breathing of the others behind him. It alone had six layers of security. At first, Notarbartolo was confused. By 5:30 am, they had opened 109 boxes. A Fight Over the Right to Repair Cars Turns Ugly. In his twenties, he devoted himself to the study of people, tracking jewelry salesmen around Italy for weeks just to understand their habits. Notarbartolo pulled off the highway and turned onto a dirt road that led into a dense thicket. 1,100 . They had executed the plan perfectly: no alarms, no police, no problems. De Bruycker called headquarters, asking for a nationwide alert: The Antwerp Diamond Center had been brazenly robbed. As Notarbartolo drove back to Belgium, Peys and De Bruycker wondered whether they'd ever catch the thieves. Alex Shishlo, Rough&Polished European Bureau Editor in Brussels, Consumers are testing a vastly less-expensive alternative to natural diamonds - Vin Lee, CEO of Grand Metropolitan, "Surat Diamond Bourse will become the voice of industry in the coming days," says Vallabhbhai Patel, Chairman of the Surat Diamond Bourse, Why are rough diamond prices falling? Seeing the pay stubs from the Diamond Center, Van Champ calls the police. Israeli and Indian currency skittered past a half-eaten salami sandwich. In the meantime, his share may very well be waiting for him, hidden somewhere in the foothills of the Italian Alps. The contents of the garbage bag was strewn amongst the trees. The Genius pulled a custom-made slab of rigid aluminum out of his bag and affixed heavy-duty double-sided tape to one side. More often than not, there was nothing in them. In the predawn half-light, the four men raced out of the building. Notarbartolo realized that the heist he had spent so much time planning might have actually been part of an elaborate insurance scam. 50,413. people. Leonardo Notarbartolo and The Antwerp Diamond Heist - Oct 4, 2021. The rough, unpolished gems were flown to London, where they were divided and placed in 120 boxesone for each official De Beers distributor, many of which were headquartered in Antwerp. It would also give him an opportunity to clean his apartment more thoroughly. When armed, the plates formed a magnetic field. Leonardo Notarbartolo is on Facebook. The 59-year-old retired Belgian grocer had twohe called them Mickey and Minnieand he enjoyed sending them down holes in the forest. They hadn't slept in two days. A moment later, the Genius nodded. Leonardo Notarbartolo Is Considered The Mastermind Of The Heist And Was Recently Paroled After Serving 10 Years In Prison. 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