2013 Belgium Diamond Heist
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On 18 February 2013, eight masked gunmen in two cars with police markings stole approximately (, ) worth of
diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...
s from a Swiss-bound
Fokker 100 The Fokker 100 is a regional jet produced by Fokker in the Netherlands. The Fokker 100 is based on the Fokker F28 with a fuselage stretched by to seat up to 109 passengers, up from 85. It is powered by two newer Rolls-Royce Tay turbofans, an ...
operated by
Helvetic Airways Helvetic Airways (Previously Odette Airways) is a Swiss regional airline headquartered in Kloten with its fleet stationed at Zurich Airport. It operates flights to destinations in Europe and Northern Africa, mainly leisure markets, on its own beh ...
on the apron at
Brussels Airport Brussels Airport, nl, Luchthaven Brussel, vls, Vliegpling Brussel, german: Flughafen Brüssel is an international airport northeast of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. In 2019, more than 26 million passengers arrived or departed at Bruss ...
, Belgium, just before 20:00
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. The heist was accomplished without a shot being fired.


Robbery

The robbers hid in a construction site outside the airport prior to the robbery. They were armed with Kalashnikov-type assault rifles and dressed as
police officers A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...
. Entering the airport through a hole they created in the airport security fence, the robbers drove on the property with two vehicles, a Mercedes van and an
Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...
, both of which were black with flashing blue police lights. They drove straight to the airplane where the gems were being transferred from a
Brink's The Brink's Company is an American private security and protection company headquartered outside Richmond, Virginia. Its core business is Brink's Inc.; its sister brand Brink's Home Security company operates separately and is headquartered in ...
armored van, which had driven from
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
, onto the Fokker 100 twin engine jet Swiss Flight LX789, which was bound for Zurich. The time between the loading procedure and the moment the plane started to move to take off would only have lasted 15 minutes according to Caroline De Wolf, a spokeswoman for the Antwerp World Diamond Centre. De Wolf stated that the window for opportunity was so small that the perpetrators must have known ahead of time about the transfer procedures and timing. The robbers stopped the plane then brandished their guns, stopping the pilots and transport security. The Brussels prosecutors' office described the weapons used as "like Kalashnikovs", most likely the
Galil The IMI Galil ( he, גליל) is a family of Israeli-made automatic rifles chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO and 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges. Originally designed by Yisrael Galili and Yakov Lior in the late 1960s, the Galil was first produced ...
. The robbers never dropped their weapons. The robbers loaded 130 bags into their cars and drove off, but left behind some gems in their hurry. The whole robbery took about 3 minutes. The robbery did not appear to disturb any of the passengers, who did not know that anything had happened until they were told to disembark because the flight had been cancelled. The van believed to be used in the robbery was later found abandoned and burned. In May 2013, 31 people were arrested in connection with the theft, and some of the diamonds were recovered. Charges were brought against 19 of those (16 men and 3 women). In contrast to the clockwork execution of the robbery, the arrests came as a result of mistakes made when the suspects tried to sell the stolen goods. Pascal Pont, a Swiss real
estate agent An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting, or management of properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent. Estate agents are mainly engaged i ...
, was given a large sack of diamonds from his friend Marc Bertoldi, a
luxury car A luxury car is a car that provides increased levels of comfort, equipment, amenities, quality, performance, and associated status compared to moderately priced cars. The term is subjective and reflects both the qualities of the car and the ...
dealer from the
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, whose car was discovered in the vicinity of the robbery. Pont was investigated for his relationship with Bertoldi, and by monitoring his phone calls, police uncovered Pont's unsuccessful attempts to fence the diamonds in
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
, which is not a city known for its
diamond trade Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...
. The trial was scheduled to begin in September 2017, but it was delayed because Bertoldi was serving a sentence in a French prison for
kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...
and could not be
extradite Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...
d. Bertoldi admitted to having received diamonds stolen in the robbery, but denied any involvement. In May 2018, 18 of those tried in connection to the heist were acquitted. The case against Bertoldi, the suspected mastermind, was yet to be heard, pending the outcome of his appeal over his kidnapping conviction. In June 2019, the correctional tribunal of Brussels sentenced Bertoldi to five years of imprisonment and a fine for being a co-conspirator in the heist, for being part of a
criminal organisation Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While o ...
and for
money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
. The tribunal did not consider him to be the mastermind behind the heist however, contrary to the prosecutor.


Reaction

Belgian
prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...
Ine Van Wymersch said the robbers "were very, very professional". French airport security consultant Doron Levy said that he was, "certain this was an
inside job An insider threat is a malicious threat to an organization that comes from people within the organization, such as employees, former employees, contractors or business associates, who have inside information concerning the organization's security ...
", adding the heist was "incredibly audacious and well organized" and that big jobs like that were often so well organized that the robbers "probably know the employees by name".


See also

* 1971
Baker Street robbery The Baker Street robbery was the burglary of safety deposit boxes at the Baker Street branch of Lloyds Bank in London, on the night of 11 September 1971. A gang tunnelled from a rented shop two doors away to come up through the floor of the ...
* 1977 Krugersdorp bank robbery * 2003 Antwerp diamond heist * 2005 Schiphol Airport diamond heist * 2015
Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary The Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary occurred in April 2015, when an underground safe deposit facility in Hatton Garden, London, owned by Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd., was burgled. According to official sources, the total stolen had an esti ...
*
List of missing treasures This is an incomplete list of notable treasures that are currently lost or missing. Note that the existence of some of these treasures is mythical or disputed. List See also * Art theft and looting during World War II * Looted art * Lost art ...
*
Lufthansa heist The Lufthansa heist was a robbery at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport on December 11, 1978. An estimated $5.875 million (equivalent to $ million in ) was stolen, with $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewelry, ma ...


References

{{Brussels topics 2013 crimes in Belgium 2013 in Brussels 2010s trials Aviation accidents and incidents in 2013 Brussels Airport Crime in Brussels Diamond industry in Belgium February 2013 crimes in Europe Organized crime events in Belgium Robberies in Belgium Robbery trials Trials in Belgium