Once the copper wires were exposed, he clipped a new, precut piece of wire between the inbound and outbound cables. The Diamond District was flush. Self-awareness is an inner-work of self-knowledge. The group was dubbed the "School of Turin." The door was rated to withstand 12 hours of nonstop drilling. Leonardo Notarbartolo was born in Palermo, Sicily, in 1952, and by his admission, he became addicted to stealing from a young age. 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. "But I am going to tell you a true story.". No one was allowed near the vehicle. They had anticipated a haul in the tens of millions each. Another minute and they would have been gone. Not at all the Diamond Center! His mother beat him, but it didn't matter. After months of sanctions that have made critical repair parts difficult to access, aircraft operators are running out of options. He seemed to be standing in the vault antechamber. Three other Italians Elio DOnorio, Ferdinando Finotto and Pietro Tavano were sentenced to five years each. The King of Keys was a quiet older man. Whatever the truth, where is the loot now? As he'd practiced in the warehouse, he strode exactly 11 steps into the middle of the room, reached for the ceiling, and pushed back a panel. He tried to pretend that everything was normal. A moment later, the Genius nodded. Using a digger to break through a perimeter fence, they made their way towards a display of diamonds with an estimated worth of 350m ($460m; 394m). One slip could cut through, instantly breaking the circuit and tripping the alarm. Notarbartolo stepped into a scalding-hot shower while the others made salami sandwiches in the kitchen. Thursday morning, February 13, 2003. It is a rare break in his fast-moving monologue. He was inside an exact replica of the Diamond Center's vault level. They were loaded down with bags and one carried a rolled-up carpet. In 2000, Notarbartolo rented a small office in the Diamond Center, one of the area's largest buildings. The robbery was called the heist of the century, and even now the police can't explain exactly how it was done. The forest was quiet except for the occasional sound of a car or truck on the highway. When the video came to a halt and snapped into focus, there was an image of a tall, muscular Italian purchasing salami. If the door were opened, the field would break, triggering an alarm. Now the foot-thick steel door was ajar, and more than 100 of the 189 safe-deposit boxes had been busted open. Notarbartolo glared at him. Web(April 2021) Leonardo Notarbartolo had rented a sparsely furnished office for approximately 25,000 Belgian francs ($700) per month in the Antwerp World Diamond Centre. The video camera recorded a sharp image of it before it disappeared inside the keyhole. The Belgian courts sentenced him to 10 years in prison. The Belgian courts sentenced him to 10 years in prison. Five men were eventually charged over the robbery, with the ringleader sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment. As a result, Leonardo started assembling a team of skilled thieves in his 30s, including lock pickers, alarm aces, safecrackers, and tunnel experts. Notarbartolo thought that would be the end of it, but now the dealer wanted to meet at an address outside Antwerp. The Diamond Center's vault after the robbery. He spun the handle, and the vault door swung open. "I'll do the rest.". He presented himself as a gem importer based in Turin, Italy, and scheduled meetings with numerous dealers. The plates were still side by side and activethe magnetic field never waveredbut they no longer monitored the door. "What was that?" Notarbartolo leans toward me in the Belgian prison and asks if I have any questions so far. The police never determined how the men had entered the building. "A big robbery.". The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The loot was never found, but their trash was. The rest of the team was already driving back to Italy with the gems. The other convicts in this eastern Belgian prison turn to look. It was enough evidence to link the crime to Notarbartolo. Jeffrey Notarbartolo To his left, he saw the vault door. He just knew how to walk there. Interestingly, all the names were aliases used by Leonardos four accomplices, yet the fifth one, AKA King of Keys, could never be identified. In 2000, Notarbartolo rented a small office in the Diamond Center, one of the areas largest buildings. By 5:30 am, they had opened 109 boxes. He had to move quickly but keep his heart rate low. The reality, Notarbartolo says, is that he thought the vault was impregnable. Sadly, crime is part and parcel of human society, especially robberies that plague the world. They found Antipasto Italiano salami packaging nearby and sent it along to Diamond Squad headquarters. "What is the status of the alarm?" On Thursday night, Notarbartolo ate dinner with his family at home outside of Turin. "There's a dirt road," Speedy said, peering into a forest. It's one of the densest concentrations of wealth in the world. Leonardo Notarbartolo was born in 1952 in Palermo, Sicily, and by his admission, he became addicted to stealing at an early age. The gang took two 17th Century crowns and an orb from a cathedral before making a dramatic escape by speedboat - and police do not yet have any suspects. 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. They burgled a number of famous stars including Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan and Orlando Bloom, propelled - according to police - by their love of celebrities and luxury goods. Later, marked $100 bills belonging to vault holders at the Diamond Center were discovered at Ferdinando Finottos girlfriends home. WebView the profiles of people named Leonardo Notarbartolo on Facebook. Join Leonardo and his ring of Italian thieves as they 00:58:01 - We gave y'all a break from the scary stories of the past few weeksto give you a HEIST! It appeared that the thieves had so much loot, they simply couldn't carry it all away. There was a combination wheel with numbers from 0 to 99. "I may be a thief and a liar," he says in beguiling Italian-accented French. The Belgian courts came down hard. Power tools wouldn't do the trick. Read about our approach to external linking.
