Great Heists: Antwerp Diamond Heist (2003).

 

This 2003 robbery was dubbed the “Heist of the Century” — with large quantities of gold, diamonds and jewelry getting lifted from the Antwerp diamond center. The estimated worth of the missing items was than $100 million, but as it turns out there was more to the story. Leonardo Notarbartolo orchestrated the robbery, and lived beside the diamond center for three years prior to the crime. As part of his sophisticated ruse, Leonardo posed as an Italian diamond merchant in order to gain credibility at the center.More than 123 out of 160 safe-deposit boxes were forced open, each of which was made of steel and had a unique key/combination lock. Leonardo was arrested, though his entire crew got away. Years later, he gave an interview to Wired magazine, in which he claims the whole thing was an insurance fraud attempt by a diamond merchant who hired him. Apparently, the actual score was closer to $20 million — leaving the lion’s share of the theft to be suffered by the insurance company.