Toni Musulin ( sr-Cyrl, Тони Мусулин; born 8 June 1970) is a French man of
Serb
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
and
Croat
The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...
origin, and a former security van driver for the Loomis security firm. He is known for having stolen
€
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...
11.6 million from the
Banque de France
The Bank of France ( French: ''Banque de France''), headquartered in Paris, is the central bank of France. Founded in 1800, it began as a private institution for managing state debts and issuing notes. It is responsible for the accounts of the F ...
while on duty.
Musulin became a hot topic of conversation on a social networking website, where he was praised for "the heist of the century" and for doing it without resorting to violence or guns.
Early life
Toni Musulin was born in
Saint-Martin-d'Hères
Saint-Martin-d'Hères (; frp, Sant-Martin-d’Èra) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration),Seynod with his brother and sister after his family moved there shortly after his birth.
His father, Vinko Musulin, is an electrician who emigrated, when he was 22 years old, from
to France in 1965.''Portrait de Toni Musulin'' nouvelobs.com, 10 mai 2010.
Toni Musulin's first career was as an electrician, like his father. At some point he founded a "" (SCI Jacquemart) through which he bought an apartment building located 16 rue Jacquemart in
Romans-sur-Isère
Romans-sur-Isère (; Occitan: ''Rumans d'Isèra''; Old Occitan: ''Romans'') is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France.
Geography
Romans-sur-Isère is located on the Isère, northeast of Valence. There are more than 50,000 in ...
in the
Drôme
Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.
department, with the ground floor being rented out as small shop.
At the end of the 1990s he became a security van driver for Loomis, for which he worked for 10 years, until the theft. His mother, also of Serbian origin, had by then divorced his father and was living in
New Caledonia
)
, anthem = ""
, image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of New Caledonia
, map_caption = Location of New Caledonia
, mapsize = 290px
, subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
with her daughter Laurène.
Shortly before the theft, he emptied his bank accounts of an amount of €137,000, which was a significant amount for someone being paid €1,700 per month. Most of that money was in fact obtained through loans from multiple banks.
He was 39 years old when the theft occurred.
Theft
On 5 November 2009, Musulin stole the armored van he was driving containing €11.6 million. This was made possible by lenient application of security procedures. The armored van was found empty shortly later with its GPS tracking device disabled. On 7 November 2009, the police were tipped off by witnesses and searched a garage in which they found most of the stolen cash: 9.1 million euros as well as a hired van. The remaining 2.5 million however could not be found. Musulin claimed that he left them in the van with the rest of the cash. At the time of the theft, he had emptied his flat and bank account.
Surrender
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
searched for Musulin in its 185 member states, with suspicions he might have fled to Serbia. He finally surrendered himself to a police station in Monaco on 16 November 2009. His lawyer claimed that Musulin surrendered because "he is a responsible man, he committed an offense, not a crime, and decided to face his responsibilities". Police on the other hand believe that it was a planned surrender and that Musulin had no intention of cooperating. They believe that after his prison sentence, Musulin will be free to enjoy the remaining 2.5 million euros, which are still nowhere to be found.
According to French law, since the theft did not include any element of violence, the maximum prison term is only three years, with possible parole after 18 months. However, Musulin is also accused of false insurance claim. A few months prior to the van theft, Toni Musulin had declared that his red Ferrari F430 had been stolen, though in fact he had simply left it in Serbia.
Trial and verdict
Musulin stated he stole in a rebellion against his boss citing bad working conditions and poor pay at the security firm. On 12 May 2010, a court in Lyon sentenced Musulin to three years in prison. On 3 November 2010, the sentence was extended to five years for the
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
F430 insurance fraud.
Release
On 29 September 2013, after four years in jail, Musulin was released from prison.
In movies
In 2013 a movie entitled '' 11.6'' was released, based on the theft story, starring François Cluzet as Toni Musulin.
TIME
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...