Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History (46 page)

203
  
Notarbartolo made calls while in prison to Capizzi’s wife:
Garbutt, “A Chronicle of Criminal Coincidences.”

203
  
Capizzi was the alleged head . . . entire Sicilian Mafia:
Peter Popham, “Mafia Chiefs Seized as They Select Godfather,”
The Independent
(London), December 17, 2008.

203
  
the Belgian judicial system . . . the United States:
This means that the Belgian public may not get as much information about criminal cases as the American public typically would. Generally, court actions are public record in the United States in the interests of ensuring the transparency of the justice system, unless there’s a specific court order sealing them, and even those can be challenged by the public. Not so in Belgium. As a matter of course, information about criminal cases is kept secret. Even lawyers do not have routine access to files, documents, and transcripts of a case once the legal process has concluded, even if they were involved in it.

204
  
they would base any decision . . . the program:
Of course, as much as one tries to do so, it is ultimately impossible to completely disregard something like this. A case in the States has a famous quote about this issue: “It is not an easy task to unring a bell, nor to remove from the mind an impression once firmly imprinted there.”
State v. Rader
, 62 Or. 37, 40, 124 P. 195, 196 (1912).

205
  
“Court-martialled in . . . my absence”:
Brendan Behan,
The Hostage
, (London: Methuen & Co, 1958), act 1. This version is from Brendan Behan,
The Complete Plays: The Hostage, The Quare Fellow, Richard’s Cork Leg
(New York: Grove Press, 1994), 161.

206
  
went to a nearby café to celebrate:
Antonino Falleti, interview with author, Hasselt, Belgium, September 22, 2008.

206
  
The visitor’s area resembled:
The description of Hasselt Prison is based on a visit there by authors on September 22, 2008.

207
  
the Supreme Court of Appeal rejected Notarbartolo’s and Tavano’s appeals:
Hof van Cassatie on appeal from Hof van Beroep te Antwerpen, file P.05.0907.N, unpublished opinion, October 4, 2005.

207
  
the only appeal available to his client:
There also was the European Court of Human Rights, but that was a long shot at best and not a real appeal, just a forum in which to argue that Belgium had violated his human rights.

207
  
glossy brochures for property in Cape Verde
: These were found when he was searched in conjunction with his arrest at the Lisbon airport. Patrick Peys, interview with author, in his office, Antwerp, September 23, 2008.

208
  
the EAW was a relatively new development:
The Council of the European Union adopted the Council Framework Decision of June 13, 2002, on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States. Framework Decision No. 2002/584/JHA. As the Portuguese court responsible for deciding whether to extradite D’Onorio explained about the EAW: “Its effectiveness depends on the trust between the EU Member States as to their legal recognition and acceptance and the decisions of their courts. Its aim, agreed by all EU states, is to ensure that criminals cannot escape justice anywhere in the EU.” Tribunal da Relação de Lisboa (the Court of Appeal of Lisbon), Case extraditing Elio D’Onorio, Procedure: 2134/2006–5, July 11, 2006.

208
  
about two and a half years before:
“In Portugal, Law No. 65/2003, of 23.8, approved the legal regime of the European arrest warrant.” Ibid. This law was dated August 23, 2003.

208
  
“a violation of the principle . . . Appeal in Antwerp”:
D’Onorio argued that this violated “the requirement of a fair trial under the provisions of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.” Ibid.

208
  
the Belgian Supreme Court ruled:
Hof van Cassatie on appeal from Hof van Beroep te Antwerpen, file P.06.0614.N, number RC06AV5_1, October 31, 2006. D’Onorio’s lawyer for this final appeal was Daniel Vedovatto of Brussels, and Finotto’s was Pierre Monville of Brussels.

208
  
against D’Onorio’s and Finotto’s appeals:
While he had been in custody in Portugal, D’Onorio not only fought his extradition from that country, but also he had a lawyer in Belgium working on overturning his conviction there. He and Finotto had instructed their lawyers to not actively participate during the original case, and the May 19, 2005, judgment at the Court of Appeal against them was a default judgment. After losing their case, these two decided to fight their conviction and succeeded in getting a new trial. This time, their lawyers fully represented them and argued on their behalf in court but to no avail. They lost again on March 16, 2006, at the Antwerp Court of Appeal. The court had made a point of noting that they did not consider the DNA evidence to which both men’s attorneys objected. Even without the DNA, the evidence was ruled to be sufficient on its own to form the basis of the decision. It was this March 16, 2006, Antwerp Court of Appeal decision that the Belgian Supreme Court upheld. Hof van Cassatie on appeal from Hof van Beroep te Antwerpen, file P.06.0614.N, number RC06AV5_1, October 31, 2006.

209
  
but eventually lost this battle:
The Italian case extraditing D’Onorio to Belgium was La Corte Suprema di Cassazione, Sezione Feriale Penale, Sentenza N. 00013/2007, August 21, 2007. On appeal from the Corte Appello di Roma’s decision dated June 26, 2007.

Chapter Thirteen: The Loot

210
  
A diamond is the hardest . . . get it back
: Evan Esar,
20,000 Quips & Quotes
, 218.

211
  
“For some of them . . . their belongings back”:
Philip Claes, interview with author, in his office at the AWDC, September 22, 2008.

211
  
“Some of them . . . recovered it”:
Ibid.

211
  
“I still found a . . . anything with that”:
Fay Vidal, interview with author, Antwerp, September 28, 2008.

212
  
There were also many things that weren’t claimed:
There were a number of reasons items from the floor of the vault never made it back to their original owners. For one, not every heist victim came to the HRD that week to look. Also, some items were simply impossible to identify, so some owners might not have wanted to risk receiving something that actually belonged to someone else. But another possibility is that the items left behind had been obtained illegally in the first place, or they had been smuggled into Belgium to avoid taxes. The fear of facing penalties for tax evasion might have been stronger for some heist victims than the desire to get their goods back. Patrick Peys said it’s not unusual that heists and robberies sometimes result in the recovery of goods that no one wants to admit having had in the first place. Patrick Peys, interview with author, in his office, Antwerp, September 23, 2008.

212
  
“The most important thing is . . . the diamonds”:
Philip Claes, interview with author, in his office at the AWDC, September 22, 2008.

212
  
The reported amount stolen came to . . . and on insurance claims:
From the Court of Appeal of Antwerp judgment in this case on May 19, 2005.

213
  
$140 million at the time of writing in July 2009:
The July 2009 rate was about 1.40 euros to the dollar.

213
  
“I assure you it’s more”:
Patrick Peys, interview with author, in his office, Antwerp, September 23, 2008.

214
  
rendered it completely untraceable to the heist:
If gold were mixed with copper, for example, the copper would be extracted using a high-temperature liquid that would bond to the copper but not the gold. Liquefied glass works well. Borax is often added to the mixture to thin the liquid for ease of pouring. Once cooled back into a solid state, the purified gold would have to be smashed out of the copper-infused glass that would form on its surface. Do-it-yourself smelters would probably leave some impurities in the gold.

214
  
sold to most fences:
Thieves generally take stolen goods to a fence to sell instead of trying to offload them on their own. In return, they get ten to thirty cents on the dollar on average, as stolen goods sell for much less than legitimate goods and the fence takes a large cut of the profits. For thirty cents on the dollar,
see, e.g.,
Tom Van Riper, “Holiday Thieving Season,”
Forbes,
November 15, 2006.

“Rarely do thieves get more than 10 percent of the value of stolen property,” said FBI Special Agent Bob Wittman. Eric Noe, “Finding Buyers for Stolen Art,”
ABC News
, November 11, 2004. Note that these figures are just for goods in general, they are not specific to diamonds. A famous group of American cat burglars known as “the Dinnerset Gang” received ten cents on the dollar for the diamonds and other gems they stole.
See
Chandra Niles Folsom, “On a Hot Tin Roof,”
Fairfield County Weekly
, March 6, 2008.

214
  
since eight out of every ten rough diamonds:
“Antwerp World Diamond Center: Strong City, Strong Stone,” available online at
http://hrd.mia.be/index.php?id=20
(accessed July 5, 2009).

214
  
“Dealing in stolen diamonds . . . easy profit”:
Patrick Peys, interview with author, in his office, Antwerp, September 23, 2008.

214
  
billions of dollars’ worth . . . every year:
In 2008, the Diamond District recorded $45 billion in turnover, or the value of transactions among the diamantaires. It’s important to note that this isn’t the export value. Philip Claes, interview with author, in his office at the AWDC, September 22, 2008.

214
  
could have been exported to India:
Rough is polished in Surat, India, if it is too small to be profitably polished in Antwerp, because of the cheap labor available in the subcontinent. Indian polishers earn about 20 rupees (the equivalent of 43.5 cents) for each diamond they work on. This is a big business; out of every eleven rough diamonds, nine are worked on in Surat. The Indian polishing sector has been criticized in the past for using child labor, a practice that hasn’t been entirely eradicated—children, it seems, are adept at polishing especially small stones because of their tiny fingers.
See, e.g.,
Aravind Adiga, “Uncommon Brilliance: How Did India Come to Dominate the Vastly Lucrative Global Market for Cutting and Polishing Diamonds?”
Time Asia Edition
, April 12, 2004. But
see
Ranjana Ghosh, “The Hidden Factory: Child Labour in India,”
The South Asian
, March 7, 2005.

215
  
“The De Beers Sight . . . into the market”:
Denice Oliver, interview with author, in her office, Antwerp, September 29, 2008.

215–216
  
the temptation to flaunt his share of the take:
Such temptation is an easy way for a thief to get caught. Picture Richard Pryor in
Superman III
when he shows up at work driving a new red Ferrari after having just having robbed his employer in an otherwise untraceable manner.

216
  
all Notarbartolo owned was a dog:
Antonino Falleti, interview with author, Turin, September 19, 2008.

216
  
“We would give an arm . . . finally closed”:
Patrick Peys, interview with author, in his office, Antwerp, September 26, 2008.

216
  
“I think they gave up . . . doing with it”:
Philip Claes, interview with author, in his office at the AWDC, September 22, 2008.

216
  
“If Notarbartolo gets. . . . going to do”:
Patrick Peys, interview with author, in his office, Antwerp, September 26, 2008.

217
  
“A lot of those victims, they are angry”:
Ibid.

217
  
The countries that do pose a whole different set of concerns
: For example, South American countries became known for their tolerance of fugitives, but also for their violent criminal organizations. Ronnie Biggs, a British thief who enjoyed a disproportionate amount of fame for a relatively minor role in the Great Train Robbery of 1963, lived openly in Brazil for more than twenty years because the Brazilian government refused to honor Great Britain’s extradition request. However, he was kidnapped by bandits and smuggled to Barbados, where his captors attempted to ransom him to Scotland Yard. Peter Muello, “Great Train Robber on the Lam in Brazil Finds British Lion on Trail,” Associated Press, October 5, 1997.