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The Untold Story of the World''s Biggest Diamond Heist

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DiamanteBlu

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"Leonardo Notarbartolo strolls into the prison visiting room trailing a guard as if the guy were his personal assistant. The other convicts in this eastern Belgian prison turn to look. Notarbartolo nods and smiles faintly, the laugh lines crinkling around his blue eyes. Though he''s an inmate and wears the requisite white prisoner jacket, Notarbartolo radiates a sunny Italian charm. A silver Rolex peeks out from under his cuff, and a vertical strip of white soul patch drops down from his lower lip like an exclamation mark.

In February 2003, Notarbartolo was arrested for heading a ring of Italian thieves. They were accused of breaking into a vault two floors beneath the Antwerp Diamond Center and making off with at least $100 million worth of loose diamonds, gold, jewelry, and other spoils. The vault was thought to be impenetrable. 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. The robbery was called the heist of the century, and even now the police can''t explain exactly how it was done.

The loot was never found, but based on circumstantial evidence, Notarbartolo was sentenced to 10 years. He has always denied having anything to do with the crime and has refused to discuss his case with journalists, preferring to remain silent for the past six years.

Until now . . ."
Here is the link to the rest of the article.
 

partgypsy

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Wow, really interesting story. The twist with the jewish dealer makes it extra intriguing, wondering if he had help on the inside. Seems like the guy who threw the trash around may have a short half life when he gets out of prison.
 

diamondseeker2006

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Wow, is right! That would make a terrific movie! And the mystery remains as to where all the loot is!
 

JulieN

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tyft.

very well written!
 

Feralpenchant

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They should make a movie out of this! I bet it would be awesome!
 

NewEnglandLady

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Thanks for posting, this was really interesting to read!

I''m still confused about the "empty satchels"... wouldn''t these extraordinarily well-trained thieves know if a satchel was empty? There were jewels left lying on the floor of the vault, which means they obviously rummaged through the contents of the boxes. It seems strange that they stole everything they could carry to the point where the left jewels on the ground, but then the majority of that was empty? Wouldn''t you know that something was fishy when you filled up an entire duffle bag full of satchels and it only weight 10 lbs or so?

I guess we won''t know until he''s out...when does he get out, anyway?

And finally, weasles hunt rabbits? I had no idea!
 

pinkstars

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Nov 28, 2007
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Oh that was so interesting! My boyfriend actually told me about it earlier in the day, but didn''t elaborate very much so I wasn''t very interested. But I just didn''t want to stop reading that! I think it''s fascinating.
 
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