Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History (44 page)

147
  
“It was no good . . . trust anymore”:
Philip Claes, interview with author, in his office at the AWDC, September 22, 2008.

148
  
“My colleagues started . . . to find”:
Patrick Peys, interview with author, in his office, Antwerp, September 23, 2008.

149
  
“We saw that . . . hadn’t been opened”:
Ibid.

150
  
suspicion away from the staff:
The staff was eventually cleared of any involvement, although they would never live down many people’s suspicions. Such suspicions lingered given that it was never known for sure how the thieves got past the combination lock on the sturdy LIPS vault door.

150
  
empty of anything worthwhile:
One published account of the heist noted that there was a packet of diamond papers, a small black Samsonite case, and a yellow notepad in Notarbartolo’s safe deposit box. Jean-Charles Verwaest,
De Diamantroof van de Eeuw
, 179.

151
  
it would be very difficult to extradite:
At the time of the heist, the thieves were relatively safe from extradition as long as they stayed in Italy. All four known thieves were Italian citizens. Article 26 of the Italian Constitution did allow for extradition of citizens under certain circumstances. This was also set forth in article 697 et seq. of the Code of Criminal Procedure. However, as a practical matter, it would have been hard for Belgium to extradite them from Italy. The law later changed to make extradition easier with Italy’s implementing the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) in 2005. This had to do with extradition between Italy and other European Union member states such as Belgium.

Chapter Ten: Been Caught Stealing

152
  
“If you want to steal . . . be caught”:
Keith B. Richburg, “Mobutu: a Rich Man in Poor Standing; As He Teeters in Zaire, Questions Mount Over His Wealth,”
The Washington Post,
October 3, 1991. Mobutu was president of Zaire at the time of this quote, which is from a May 1976 statement he delivered to a conference of his ruling party. A fascinating book on the blatant kleptocracy that Mobutu ruled over is
In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu’s Congo
by Michela Wrong.

152
  
they believe it was a villa:
Patrick Peys, interview with author, in his office, Antwerp, September 23, 2008.

154
  
didn’t even put Notarbartolo in the same league:
Lodovico Poletto, interview with author, in the
La Stampa
office, Turin, January 16, 2009.

154
  
“He was a man with a dream”:
Ibid.

155
  
the caravan of police cars wound through:
Much of the information regarding the search of Notarbartolo’s house in Trana is based on a series of interviews, both in person and via e-mail, with a confidential source, a member of Italian law enforcement who was present at both searches of this property.

155
  
brothers opened the door without a fight:
Interview with confidential source, a member of Italian law enforcement with knowledge of this case, via e-mail, May 15, 2009. The source was present at both searches of Notarbartolo’s house in Trana and was 100 percent certain that the door was not knocked down on either occasion. Instead, the police were let in.

158
  
He’d made the trip from Haarlem in the Netherlands to Antwerp with time to spare:
The description of Falleti’s activities the day he and Notarbartolo were arrested comes from his own narration of these events to the authors in a series of in-person interviews in Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium in September 2008. Also of assistance in describing Falleti’s point of view that day was “A Chronicle of Criminal Coincidences,” an unpublished manuscript, dated August 2008, by Jo-Ann Garbutt, with whom Falleti cooperated to tell the story of his involvement in the case. Garbutt was Falleti’s girlfriend after his divorce from Judith Zwiep. The diamond detectives also discussed what they knew of his activities that day and the Court of Appeal of Antwerp judgment in this case on May 19, 2005, contained some relevant details.

159
  
“ridiculous”:
Philip Claes, interview with author, in his office at the AWDC, September 22, 2008.

162
  
“It doesn’t happen . . . the permission”:
Patrick Peys, interview with author, in his office, Antwerp, September 23, 2008.

162
  
“The interview with . . . go first”:
Kris De Bot, interview with author, via telephone, April 24, 2009.

163
  
“We needed guys . . . it stops”:
Patrick Peys, interview with author, in his office, Antwerp, September 23, 2008.

163
  
“I’m not always . . . stalling him”:
Ibid.

164
  
“ten seconds”:
Kris De Bot, interview with author, via telephone, April 24, 2009.

164
  
“Notarbartolo, because he’s . . . burned his last bridge”:
Patrick Peys, interview with author, in his office, Antwerp, September 23, 2008.

165
  
took the elevator to the -1 parking level:
While Notarbartolo had intended to be in and out before closing time, Boost’s delay combined with the police questioning resulted in his still being in the building after closing time. Normally the front entrance would be locked and the gate pulled down sharp at 7:00 p.m., so Vidal had no way of knowing that had been delayed, and she headed to the only exit normally open at that time, the garage. Fay Vidal, interview with author, Antwerp, September 28, 2008.

165
  
“That’s not one . . . leave that building”:
Fay Vidal, interview with author, Antwerp, September 28, 2008.

165
  
“I see a man standing . . . ‘What do you want?’ ”:
Ibid.

165
  
“absolutely nobody”:
Ibid.

166
  
He drank a shot of grappa:
Also, the police found a shot glass and grappa bottle in the sink at the apartment, both with Falleti’s fingerprints on them. Garbutt, “A Chronicle of Criminal Coincidences.”

167
  
“He was very confused . . . looking for him”:
Kris De Bot, interview with author, via telephone, April 24, 2009.

168
  
“He was very afraid . . . the authorities”:
Ibid.

169
  
While his sister was getting the warrant:
Interestingly enough, Kris De Bot didn’t know until later that it was his sister who was getting the warrant for him. Earlier that same day, during his drive with Notarbartolo from the apartment to the police office, he’d seen his dad. “My father was driving his car, but he didn’t see me. It’s unbelievable. It can’t be true, it’s a joke, but it really happened.” Ibid.

170
  
“The time was very short . . . the car downstairs”:
Ibid.

170
  
The handwritten search warrant . . . at 8:58 p.m.:
Patrick Peys, interview with author, in his office, Antwerp, September 23, 2008.

Chapter Eleven: Checkmate

171
  “
Whether we fall . . . own dust”:
The Duchess of Malfi
, act 5, scene 5. These are the final words of Duke Ferdinand before he dies. It is not known for certain if this play was written in 1613 or 1614.

171
  
Notarbartolo continued playing the part:
The description of Peys’s interrogation of Notarbartolo comes from Peys’s own narration of this event to authors over the course of two interviews in his office in September 2008 as well as in follow-up phone calls and e-mails.

171–172
  
“I first treated him . . . [the heist]”:
Patrick Peys, interview with author, in his office, Antwerp, September 23, 2008.

172
  
“He [said he] had . . . perfectly empty”:
Ibid.

172
  
Notarbartolo didn’t have the keys . . . found those in his apartment:
Ibid.

173
  
this was no alibi at all:
It would have been much harder for Notarbartolo to manufacture an alibi in Antwerp than it would have been for him back in Turin. In Antwerp, Notarbartolo lacked the friends, family, criminal connections, and various local ties that could have enabled him to create a decent alibi.

173
  
“As a policeman . . . with the right guy”:
Patrick Peys, interview with author, in his office, Antwerp, September 23, 2008.

173
  
“Look, what do you think . . . Who is he”:
Ibid.

173
  
“He didn’t move . . . so unreal”:
Ibid.

173–174
  
“We were absolutely . . . I didn’t know”:
Ibid.

174
  
“He said very politely . . . case with us”:
Ibid.

174
  
Investigators had more luck talking to Falleti:
The descriptions of Falleti’s interrogations by the police and time in prison come from his own series of in-person interviews with authors in Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium in September 2008. Also of assistance was “A Chronicle of Criminal Coincidences” by Jo-Ann Garbutt. Falleti confirmed the accuracy of Garbutt’s account to the authors. Additionally, court documents detailed the results of his interrogations, and the Belgian police confirmed details of their interactions with Mr. Falleti.

174
  
inspection back at the forensics lab:
The crime scene officers took the rug back to the Antwerp forensics lab, where they used a “vacuum cleaner . . . [the kind] you can buy at any mall; the filters used, however, are produced by the National Institute for Criminalistics in Brussels . . . The vacuum cleaner uses no bag but instead filters, which are put on top of the flexible hose, just behind the nozzle. These filters collect all kinds of small particles. Immediately after using one of those filters, they are sealed with a top layer, packed in paper bags, labeled, confiscated, and sent to Brussels (National Institute).” Peter Kerkhof, e-mail to author, April 20, 2009.

175
  
“very small ‘glass fragments’ . . . possible emeralds”:
Peter Kerkhof, e-mail to author, June 25, 2009.

175
  
“Everything went so fast . . . everything downstairs”:
Jean-Charles Verwaest and MVDB, “DNA-Onderzoek in Diamantroof,”
Het Nieuwsblad
(Belgium), March 1, 2003.

176
  
Falleti said he had been at a friend’s birthday party . . . home that night:
Falleti’s later explanation for this discrepancy was that his wife had forgotten about his going to the birthday party as she had not gone with him but had instead stayed home that night. Garbutt, “A Chronicle of Criminal Coincidences.”

176
  
Falleti later described the subterranean holding cell:
Ibid.

177
  
She said she was afraid . . . removed from the apartment
: From the Court of Appeal of Antwerp judgment in this case on May 19, 2005.

177
  
As viewed from the street:
Visit to the Prison of Antwerp by authors, October 3, 2008.

178
  
Notarbartolo did catch Falleti’s eye . . . an apologetic shrug:
Garbutt, “A Chronicle of Criminal Coincidences.”

179
  
“being held on suspicion of being co-authors in the theft”:
Andrew Osborn, “Four Held For Record Antwerp Gem Theft,”
The Guardian
(London), February 26, 2003.

180
  
a brilliant-cut . . . weighing 0.70476 carats:
The HRD issued its grading report for this stone on February 18, 2002.

180
  
They were like disciplined soldiers . . . to the consequences:
As it turned out, there were no consequences. Years later, police in both countries were able to laugh at the brothers’ unshakable composure in the face of potentially dire repercussions. Italy is not like the United States, where most police interrogators control their anger and avoid punching out their suspects if only for fear of a police brutality accusation. Italians are famously hot blooded, and that goes for the police as well, who sometimes don’t restrain themselves. One investigator told the authors that Marco Notarbartolo “wasn’t beaten” for violating the binding order to safeguard the safe contents, as if to demonstrate that interrogators were exceedingly patient with him. Perhaps they could tell from his stoicism that it would have been a waste of energy. In the end, Marco Notarbartolo wasn’t even charged for failing to abide by the order. Interview with confidential source, a member of Italian law enforcement with knowledge of this case, September 2008.