by Scott Selby
226 locksmiths would indeed . . . video still: Professional safecrackers have allowed that this isn’t impossible—but the image would have had to be perfect and crystal clear. A smart thief fabricating a key like this would have made several to account for possible variances in the depth of the grooves cut into the bit. Barry Wels, e-mail to author, July 11, 2009.
226 “directly above [the concierge’s] head”: Joshua Davis, “The Untold Story of the World’s Biggest Diamond Heist.”
226 “Nearby, in a storage room . . . video signal”: Ibid.
226 “fully functional”: Ibid.
227 “What he says is . . . bullshit”: Patrick Peys, interview with author, via telephone, April 23, 2009.
227 “the biggest bullshit I’ve ever heard”: Ibid.
228 “We know that . . . the scam”: Ibid.
228 “laughed it off . . . in this way”: Philip Claes, interview with author, via telephone, September 29, 2009.
228 “I really do . . . on everyone else”: Patrick Peys, interview with author, via telephone, April 23, 2009.
229 Falleti successfully called Notarbartolo’s cell phone: Garbutt, “A Chronicle of Criminal Coincidences.” Falleti’s account predates Notarbartolo’s discussion with Davis, and there was no reason at that time for Falleti to lie about his phone conversations with Notarbartolo that day.
229 “fairy tale” . . . “inventions”: Pietro Tavano, letter to author, April 20, 2009.
230 D’Onorio claims . . . on the loose: Elio D’Onorio, interview with author, via telephone, June 11, 2009.
230 “Who, exactly, is . . . hard to believe”: “Rants,” Wired magazine (San Francisco), June 2009, but published online on May 22, 2009. The letter to the editor was attributed to Dave Millman of San Jose, California.
230 “It’s true that . . . been lying”: Mark Robinson, Articles Editor, Wired magazine, e-mail to author, July 29, 2009.
230 “Notarbartolo’s claims . . . check them”: Ibid., July 30, 2009.
231 “From what we read . . . absolutely wrong”: Patrick Peys, e-mail to author, March 29, 2009.
231 “We participated in . . . his account”: Agim De Bruycker, interview with author, via telephone, July 17, 2009.
231 Variety reported on March 16: Dave McNary and Tatiana Siegel, “JJ Abrams Producing Heist Film; Paramount Pic Based on Wired Article,” Variety, March 16, 2009.
231 film producer J. J. Abrams: Abrams was the Hollywood powerhouse behind such hits as Felicity, Alias, Lost, Fringe, Mission Impossible III, Cloverfield, and Star Trek (2009). Abrams was also Wired’s guest editor for the magazine’s May 2009 issue.
231 according to Hollywood Reporter: Jay A. Fernandez and Borys Kit, “Paramount Sets ‘Diamond’ with J. J. Abrams,” Hollywood Reporter, March 17, 2009.
231 Davis to obtain . . . in exchange for telling his story: According to Wired’s Articles Editor Mark Robinson, the magazine reviewed its policies about reporters discussing the possibility of movie deals with their sources after the authors of this book raised questions about Davis’s interaction with Notarbartolo. Robinson said in a July 30, 2009, e-mail, “It has sparked some internal discussion here at Wired and caused us to think hard about the potential for the appearance of conflict of interest. Going forward, we have decided that writers will not be allowed to make agreements about possible movie deals until after stories are closed.” He clarified in a later e-mail that he does not believe there was a conflict of interest in this case. Mark Robinson, e-mails to author, July 29–31, 2009.
231 an executive producer on the future film: IMDb Pro, “Untitled J.J. Abrams Diamond Heist Project,” Full Credits, available online at [http://pro.imdb.com/title/tt1399110/fullcredits] http://pro.imdb.com/title/tt1399110/fullcredits (accessed on June 30, 2009).
231 successfully argued . . . extradition to Belgium: The Italian case refusing to extradite Finotto to Belgium, instead having him serve his sentence in Italy, was La Corte Suprema di Cassazione, Sezione Penale, Sentenza N. 465, February 12, 2008. This case was on appeal from the Corte Appello di Torino’s decision dated December 28, 2007. The Italian case refusing to extradite Tavano to Belgium, instead having him serve his sentence in Italy, was La Corte Suprema di Cassazione, Sezione Sezione Penale, Sentenza N. 464, February 12, 2008. This case was on appeal from the Corte Appello di Torino’s decision dated December 28, 2007.
232 On the afternoon . . . wife’s name: Details about this stop and confiscation of the diamonds found come from interviews with a confidential source, a member of Italian law enforcement with knowledge of this case, via e-mails, July and August 2009.
232 a brand new . . . hatchback: The sticker price in Italy was 30,900. Manfred Poschenrieder, Corporate Communications and Policy, BMW, via e-mail, July 20, 2009.
232 “We are, of course . . . theft in 2003”: Agim De Bruycker, interview with author, via telephone, July 17, 2009.
233 “It’s too long . . . permission to come”: Kris De Bot, interview with author, via telephone, September 22, 2009.
233 “Leo cannot be condemned . . . selling it”: Agim De Bruycker, interview with author, via telephone, July 17, 2009.
233 “Maybe it’s the beginning . . . recover everything”: Philip Claes, interview with author, via telephone, September 29, 2009.
234 “The feeling here . . . released so early”: Ibid.
234 and a fortune in stolen diamonds: Joshua Davis told a Belgian newspaper reporter that Notarbartolo claimed that there is no fortune to enjoy, that instead he and his associates had the “20 million euros” in loot (this being the figure that Notarbartolo told Davis) stolen from them by unnamed parties when they had it in an apartment in Milan. Douglas De Coninck, “Dader Kraak van de Eeuw Vrij,” De Morgen (Brussels, Belgium), March 13, 2009.
INDEX
ABC News, 193
Abrams.J.J., 231, 305n231
ADA. See Antwerp Diamond Area (ADA)
Alarms. See also Light sensors; Motion detectors
D’Onorio as expert, 92–93, 98–99, 130
neutralizing, in Antwerp Diamond Center, 122
specialists, 20, 86–87
Andimo Building, 17
Andre, 44–45
Anglo American Corporation of South Africa, 70
Angola, 64, 71
Anti-Mafia Brigade, 202–203
Antwerp
architecture, 4, 14–15
diamonds in, 2, 6–7
Leonardo Notarbartolo leaving, 133
School of Turin moving to, 101–102
Antwerp Court of Appeal, 198, 208
Antwerp Diamond Area (ADA), 11
closed-circuit television in, 12
police in, 59
security bubble, 12
Antwerp Diamond Center. See also Diamond Center vault; Garage doors
blueprints of, 41–42, 250n41
Boost as manager, 1–4, 6, 160–161, 219
buildings, 15–17
complacent staff, 45–46
De Sousa discovering robbery, 135–136
diamonds traveling through, 2
D’Onorio visiting, 104–105, 269–270n104
Finotto sizing up, 37
getting away from, 130–131
Grimberger as owner, 5
guards, 16–17
lawsuits, 219
Leonardo Notarbartolo filming, 39–40, 95
Leonardo Notarbartolo casing, 1, 60
Leonardo Notarbartolo’s late nights in, 80
location of, 2
neutralizing alarms, 122
panic in, xiv
Room 526, 3–4
safe deposit boxes, 89–90, 101, 124–129
security in, xii–xiv, 4, 6, 37, 161
tenants, 16–17
as unacceptable for insurance, 54
Antwerp Diamond Museum, 53
Antwerp Forensics Laboratory, 146
Antwerpsche Diamantkring
as bourse, 50–51
diamond heist 1994, 61–63
Architecture, 198
Antwerp skyline, 4
Diamond Square Mile, 13–14
Turin, 21–22
Arthashastra, 67
Aviv, Amos, 62–63
Barnato, Barney, 69
Beurs voor Diamanthandel, 46, 50–51, 110, 113
bin Laden, Osama, 64
Black diamonds, 65–66, 147, 159, 172
Black market, 65, 138, 147, 159, 172, 243
Blood diamonds, 64–65
Blueprints
of Antwerp Diamond Center, 41–42, 45, 95, 250n41
Boost and, 41–42
police finding, 150
Boon, Eric, 179
Boost, Julie, 8–9, 54, 79, 136, 150, 220
Antwerp Diamond Center manager, 1–4, 6, 160–161, 219
blueprints and, 41–42
at crime scene, 138
giving vault tour, 4
knowing vault combination, 119
as nosy, 42–43, 251n42
as robbery victim, 126
safe doors and, 91
stalling Leonardo Notarbartolo, 163–165
Bourses, 50, 212
Antwerpsche Diamantkring as, 50–51
robbery of, 61–63
security among, 51
Brabo, Silvius, 14
Brazil, 67
Brico, 112, 148
Brilliance, 74
Brinks, 6, 12, 50
Burglars. See also School of Turin
Highland bandits of Central India, 113
Italian gangs, 114
professional British, 113–114
superstitions among, 113–114
Caesar, Julius, 23
Caine, Michael, 84
Capital Diamonds, 127
Capizzi, Benedetto, 203
Carats, 75–76, 125–129, 266n74
Carlton Hotel diamond heist, 58
Cartier jewelry, 73, 127
Cathedral of Our Lady, 14
di Cavour, Camillo Benso, 81
CBS-Brachfeld Building, 51
Central Operations Service (Rome), 154
Central Selling Organization (CSO), 70
Chiruzzi, Pancrazio (“the Soloist with the Kalashnikov”), 154, 201
Claes, Philip, 147, 159, 193, 210–212, 228, 234
Cleave cut, 74
“Clergy penitent privilege,” 255–256n63
Clooney, George, 230
Closed-circuit phone network, 114
Closed-circuit television, xiv, 3–4
in ADA, 12
in Diamond Square Mile, 6–7
Leonardo Notarbartolo counting, 17–18
Cognacs, 127, 275n127
Concierges, 5, 42, 117. See also De Sousa, Jorge Dias; Plompteux, Jacques
cushy job of, 44–45
locking vault, 43–44, 78–79
opening garage doors, 82–83
turning off vault lights, 95
vault combination and, 119–120
Conflict diamonds, 63–65, 159, 257n64
Counterterrorism, 63
Cour d’Assises, 188
Cour de Cassation, 188
Court summonses, 195–197
Crime scene
Boost at, 138
De Bot at, 162–164
De Bruycker at, 138
Leonardo Notarbartolo returning to, 156–158, 160–162
Oliver at, 136
Peys at, xiv–xv, 138
Vidal at, 139–140
Criminals, 13, 63. See also Burglars; School of Turin
Crudo, Adriana, 26–27, 156–157, 166–167, 216–217
alibi of, 187
bail for, 189
innocence of, 204–205
as jewelry store operator, 31
in police custody, 169–170
prison detainment, 178–179
questioning, 174–175
as suspect, 177
trial of, 199
CSO (Central Selling Organization), 70
Currency, 6, 14, 63, 66, 131, 184, 256n63
Damen, Walter, 199–201
Damoros Preziosi, 6, 149, 159, 172
Davis, Joshua, 222, 228, 230–231
De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited, 69
antitheft measures, 72–73
defining cultural traditions, 70
hoarding diamonds, 71, 265n71
as monopoly, 70–71, 261–262n70, 262–263n70
De Beers Mining Company, 68
De Bot, Kris, 168, 233
at crime scene, 162–164
with search warrant, 179
De Bruycker, Agim, 193, 204, 230–231, 233
as action hero, 64
at crime scene, 138
investigations by, 63–64
with search warrant, 170
television interview, 194
as underappreciated, 64
unwinding with investigators, 162
Delhaize grocery store, 10, 111, 133, 148–149, 183
De Man, Jan, 179, 204, 206
Democratic Republic of Congo, 64
De Sousa, Jorge Dias, 42, 44, 79, 220, 224, 227
apartment of, 103, 124
blame put on, 137–138
discovering Antwerp Diamond Center robbery, 135–136
knowing vault combination, 119
De Vlaam, Pieter, 120
De Vos, Paul
duties of, 90–91
home of, 89
as locksmith, 88, 119, 128, 138
police questioning, 140–141
replacing safe deposit box doors, 150
Diabel, 127
Diamantaires, 50–51, 63
alleged conspiracy, 223
consulting, 75
diamond industry and, 71
police assisting, 64–65
on Valentine’s Day, 110
Diamantclub van Antwerpen, 48, 50–51
Diamond(s), xiii. See also Black diamonds; Blood diamonds; Cognacs; Conflict diamonds; Rough diamonds
in Antwerp, 2, 6–7
certification, 76–77, 267n76
color, 75–76, 127, 266n75, 275n127
confiscated from Leonardo Notarbartolo, 232–233
as currency, 63, 66, 256n63
De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited hoarding, 71
gem-quality, 68
history of, 66–67
as industrial tools, 68
insuring, 52–53
locations, 67
loot, 214–215
recovering, 76–77
stolen cache, 132
transporting, 11–12, 31
traveling through Antwerp Diamond Center, 2
as untraceable, 66, 257–258n66
value of, 11, 46, 49, 69
Diamond Center vault, 4, 85. See also Alarms; Light sensors; LIPS vault door; Motion detectors
Boost giving tour, 4
combination, 118–119
D’Onorio rigging door, 106–107
doors of, 51, 86–88
key to, 96–98
Leonardo Notarbartolo as last in, 79
Leonardo Notarbartolo inspecting, 19–20, 40–41, 78–79
Leonardo Notarbartolo/key and, 96–98
lights, 95
locking procedure, 43–44, 78–79
School of Turin entering, 118–119
Diamond cutting, 12, 66, 68, 74–75
Diamond detectives, 179, 190, 209. See also De Bruycker, Agim; De Bot, Kris; Peys, Patrick
facilities, 154
investigation, 146
morale of, 162–163
role of, 63–65
with search warrant, 149–150
working with local police, 163
Diamond heists. See also Diamond scams; “Heist of the century”; Robbery
Antwerpsche Diamantkring 1994, 61–63
Cannes Carlton Hotel 1994, 58
dealers fearing, 12–13
De Sousa discovering Antwerp Diamond Center, 135–136
historic, 242–243
as inside jobs, 29
Leonardo Notarbartolo setting in motion, 1–3
London’s Knightsbridge Safe Deposit Centre, 39, 58, 242, 245
Société Générale bank, 58–59
tedious planning, 84–85
Diamond High Council (HRD), 6, 210, 248n6
certificates from, 76, 267–268n76
director general, 102
headquarters, 14
Diamond mining
modern, 72–73
origins, 68–69, 260n68
“Diamond Office,” 159
Diamond papers, 46, 125, 132, 146, 225, 252n46
Diamond pipes, 67–68, 259n67
Diamond polishing, 66, 68, 75, 215, 298n214
Diamond salesmen, 31. See also Diamantaires
paranoia of, 47
reputations of, 48
trust among, 47
“Diamonds by Leonardo,” 217
Diamond scams, 47–48
Diamond Square Mile, 6
closed-circuit television, 6–7
as fortress, 12
precious metals/stones in, 73–74
history/architecture, 13–14
jewelry designers, 73–74
security, 7
Diamond Trading Company (DTC), 70–71, 261–262n69, 265–266n71
Diamond transactions, 48–49, 159
legitimate, 6
trust during, 50–51
DNA, 139, 149, 181, 183
D’Onorio, Elio, 102, 112, 157
alarm expert, 92–93, 98–99, 130
arrest of, 207–208
conviction of, 204
description of, 149
final preparations by, 110
fortune of, 234
on infiltration crew, 115–117
loot kept by, 215–216
in prison, 209
questioning, 183
release of, 231
rigging vault door, 106–107
on supply run, 111–112
as suspect, 149, 201
testing garage doors, 107–108
as tragic coincidences victim, 229
trial of in absentia, 199
visiting Antwerp Diamond Center, 104–105, 269–270n104
Doppler radar, 93–94
Emeralds, xiii, 74, 126, 132, 133, 174–175
Emrusadiam, 127
European Arrest Warrant (EAW), 208, 294–295n208
