The bank robbery of the century
The criminal gang planned this “heist of the century” for 2 months. Initially they went into the sewers of the From here in Nice, they dug a tunnel under the bank.
The mastermind of the robbery was Spaggiari. He gathered a team to dig into the sewer for 2 months They ate and slept right in the sewer, they cooked, drank and defecated in ancient silver tureens.
After 2 months, they dug an 8m long tunnel to reach the vault of Societe Generale Bank Here they used pickaxes and many other tools to break through the thick wall to break into the bank.
The group of criminals took advantage of the weekend at the empty bank to empty the bank’s safety deposit box and cash reserves. escaped through the tunnel with gold, cash, jewelry and gems amounting to 8-10 million dollars.
July 19, 1976, the first Monday of the week when bank employees left made them discover the scene of the heist with a message left by the gang: ”No guns no violence no hate” scrawled on a wall of the vault.
Several months after the “spectacular” bank robbery, when the police were still stuck in finding the culprit, suddenly a woman claiming to be the girlfriend of a gang member had denounced the gang. party and Spaggiari.
Spaggiari was arrested. After a lengthy investigation he confessed and was immediately sentenced to prison. However, on March 10, 1977, Spaggiari fled on the road and was brought to a hearing thanks to the effective assistance of his accomplices.
Spaggiari was sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia.</p >
Six other men were arrested along with Spaggiari. Three of these were acquitted; The remaining 3 people were sentenced to 5 to 7 years in prison.
In 1980, a bank in Paris was robbed of 12 million dollars. At the crime scene, people also found a message similar to the bank robbery in Nice with the word “Thank you”.
There was no evidence of guilt. Spaggiari was involved in this theft, but it is believed that he committed it.
Portrait of the mastermind
Albert Spaggiari Under the guise of a photographer, he confessed to being the mastermind of an elaborate bank robbery in 1976 that was considered the “robbery of the century” that excited France and the world.
After successfully escaping in 1977 Spaggiari fled to Paris to hide in the house of a young heiress who was so infatuated with him that she gave up her entire fortune to escape with Spaggiari. ran to Argentina.
Spaggiari is very cunning and intelligent. He played a game of “cat and mouse” with the French police, constantly moving disguised in strange costumes and surgically changing his face so that the police could not identify him. That’s why for many years the police were unable to catch this famous criminal.
In the years that followed, Spaggiari used stolen money to buy a farm in Argentina. Here he wrote a book about the heist of the century titled “Fric-Frac”. In it, he expressed regret that he could not open 3,500 safe deposit boxes in the bank due to lack of suitable equipment; describes how the gang used large amounts of bath foam to remove slime from the sewer while tunneling…
Spaggiari contracted lung cancer in Italy in 1989 and died at the age of 57 with an Audi next to. Before he died, the thief of the century still tried to mock the failure of enforcement forces law of France during that period.
Unexpected turning point
In 2010, the case A famous old crime takes an unexpected turn when a professional criminal writes a book that describes himself as the mastermind of the “heist of the century” mentioned above.
Investigators quickly identified the writer as Jacques Cassandri, a key mafia figure in Marseille.
Jacques Cassandri told the above story because he thought he was safe when The crime is beyond the time to be prosecuted. But he did not expect that he would still be charged with laundering millions of dollars from the theft – a crime for which French law does not apply the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution.
Police found a draft road diagram tunnel on Cassandri’s computer. His children also confessed that their father often bragged about the theft.
Cassandra admitted to orchestrating the elaborate theft with the participation of at least six people and 30 barrels of acetylene to supply. providing fuel for groynes.
Appearing in court with his wife and children, this 73-year-old man introduced himself as a “retiree”. In fact, he heads an empire that includes several business and real estate.
If convicted Cassandri could face up to 10 years in prison. Cassandri’s lawyer said: “He always said it was just a novel and I don’t think the court can convict someone based on a novel.”
Cassandri was convicted The Marseille criminal court sentenced him on April 4, 2018 to 30 months in prison and a fine of 200,000 euros.
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