Hundreds of millions in cash and jewels are still missing from the biggest heists in British history... so where did the money go? TOBY WALNE
It would have been one of the most notorious heists ever. A gang planned to take £350million worth of diamonds from the Millennium Dome on November 7, 2000.
They had planned to ram-raid the De Beers diamond exhibition, which was held in the riverside Dome. They then planned to escape via the Thames on a speedboat.
But it was foiled by the Metropolitan Police as a result of information from Kent Police, who already had the gang members under surveillance.
Nearly a quarter of a century later, they finally share details of their botched burglary on Netflix in a three-part documentary co-produced by Guy Ritchie.
Inspired by the new series, Money Mail explores the top ten British heists in history and, as some £169million is still missing, asks... What happened to the money?
City bonds robbery of 1990 – £292million
Value today: £709million
Loss: £2million worth of bonds not recovered
City courier John Goddard was robbed in the street at knife-point carrying 301 Bank of England treasury bills and certificates of deposit from banks and building societies in May 1990.
The police believe the mugging was carried out by a petty criminal called Patrick Thomas who was found shot dead a year later.
The gang that was involved in laundering the bonds was eventually tracked down by police with key member Keith Cheeseman receiving a six-and-a-half-year sentence. Police recovered all except two bonds believed to be worth some £2million.
Keith Cheeseman, chairman of Dunstable Town Football Club, got a six-and-a-half-year sentence
The Knightsbridge Security Deposit robbery of 1987 – £40million
Value today: £114million
Loss: £20million not recovered
Career criminal Valerio Viccei walked into a London bank with an accomplice in 1987 and asked to rent a safe-deposit box. After being shown the vault, they pulled out guns and overpowered the manager and guards. The pair put a closed sign on the door and let in others, who broke into 114 safe deposit boxes.
Viccei was already wanted for 50 armed robberies in his native Italy. He escaped to South America but was caught later after returning to ship his Ferrari Testarossa to his new home.
Viccei was sentenced to 22 years and died in a gunfight in 2000 when on day release in Italy.
Experts believe the true value of the cash and valuables stolen may have been closer to £60million as 30 safe deposit box holders never came forward and others were not keen to share details of the items that had been stolen. About £20million of the hoard remains unaccounted for.
Career criminal Valerio Viccei was sentenced to 22 years and died in a gunfight in 2000
The Securitas depot robbery of 2006 – £53million
Value today: £90million
Loss: £32million not recovered
The manager of a Securitas warehouse in Kent was kidnapped along with his wife and their eight-year-old son in 2006 by an armed gang.
They were later taken to a Tonbridge depot where the robbers bound 14 staff, and the manager gave them access to cages full of money. The gang left behind £154million in the raid because they did not have enough space to take it with them in the lorry brought for transporting the cash.
Police investigations led to five people eventually being convicted for the crime.
Ringleader Lee Murray is currently serving a 25-year sentence in a Moroccan jail after fleeing to the country following the raid. Police found more than £20million in raids but £32million has not been recovered.
CCTV shows some of the gunmen involved in the raid gaining access to the depot and holding staff at gunpoint
Police found more than £20million in raids but £32million has not been recovered
The Brink's-Mat burglary of 1983 – £26million
Value today: £87million
Loss: Most remains missing
An audacious burglary where a gang of six robbers that were expecting to find £1million worth of foreign money ended up also stealing £25million worth of gold and uncut diamonds.
This inside job involved a security guard, Anthony Black, who in 1983 let the robbers into the Brink's-Mat security company warehouse at Heathrow. They tied up guards and poured petrol on them – threatening to light a match if they did not hand over keys and share the vault entrance code.
They made off with £1million worth of Spanish pesetas and, unexpectedly, 6,800 gold bars weighing three tons and £100,000 worth of uncut diamonds. Two of the armed criminals were caught and sentenced to 25 years in jail. Most of the gold taken in the theft was never recovered.
It was turned into a hit TV series, The Gold, starring Jack Lowden, which aired on the BBC in 2023.
The Brink's Mat Depot, in Hounslow, west London, where guards were tied up
Jack Lowden stars in The Gold
Graff Diamonds store robbery of 2009 – £40million
Yellow diamond flower necklace, which was stolen from Graff Jewellers
Value today: £63million
Loss: Most remains missing
Two sharply dressed men strolled into the upmarket jewellery store in New Bond Street, London, in August 2009 and pulled out handguns demanding valuables. They walked out 25 minutes later with 43 of its most precious items of jewellery, worth an estimated £40million.
The criminals were later caught after one of the robbers accidentally left his mobile phone behind in one of the getaway cars when swapping vehicles to avoid detection. Anonymous numbers stored on the phones allowed police to discover their identities.
Ringleader Aman Kassaye was sentenced to 23 years in prison. Three other men were jailed for 16 years. However, only one of the 43 items stolen was ever recovered.
Two sharply dressed men strolled into the upmarket jewellery store in New Bond Street, London, in August 2009
Bank of America robbery of 1976 – £8million
Value today: £61million
Loss: £7.5million remains missing
A raid at the Bank of America in Mayfair, west London, in 1976 involved an electrician employed by the bank, Stuart Buckley, hiding in roof space above the vault door and peering through a hole to discover the passcode to get inside.
The police later caught seven of the eight robbers – with safe-cracker Leonard Wilde receiving one of the stiffest sentences at 23 years. However, the man believed to be behind the heist, Frank Maple, escaped to Morocco. Only £500,000 was recovered.
A raid at the Bank of America in Mayfair, west London, in 1976 involved an electrician employed by the bank, Stuart Buckley, hiding in roof space above the vault door
The Great Train Robbery of 1963 – £2.6million
Value today: £47million
Loss: Most of the £2.6million remains missing
A gang of 15 robbed a Glasgow to London Royal Mail train in rural Buckinghamshire in 1963. They stopped the train by putting up a false red signal and made off with 120 sacks of cash.
Police later found the local farmhouse hideout where they had played Monopoly with the stolen money. Fingerprints found on the board game led to their arrests.
After capture, ringleader Ronnie Biggs was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He escaped in 1965 by scaling a prison perimeter wall with a rope ladder. He fled to Brazil but returned in 2001 due to ill health and was sent back to prison. Released in 2009, Biggs died four years later. Most of the money was never recovered.
Ringleader Ronnie Biggs was sentenced to 30 years in prison
Police examining one of the coaches on the Glasgow to London train
The Northern Bank robbery of 2004 – £26.5million
Value today: £47million
Loss: Most remains missing
The raid took place at the Northern Bank in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in December 2004. Robbers abducted the families of two bank officials – forcing them to co-operate in the heist.
With their support, the robbers were able to get into the bank vaults and take the money. Despite extensive investigations, the case remains unsolved – and the vast majority of the cash not recovered.
The raid took place at the Northern Bank in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in December 2004
The 'Diamond Wheezers' of Hatton Garden of 2015 – £14million
Value today: £19million
Loss: £9.7million remains missing
During Easter Weekend in 2015 a group of six criminals with an average age of 63 broke into the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit company and drilled through its 20-inch concrete vault wall using an industrial power drill.
They made off with £14million worth of jewellery, precious stones, gold and cash, taken from 72 safety deposit boxes. An intruder alarm went off, but the Metropolitan Police did not believe it warranted a response.
All the robbers were later arrested and given prison sentences of up to ten years, with additional sentences of up to six-and-a-half years for not returning money made from the robbery. Only £4.3million worth of the stolen goods was ever returned.
The robbers pictured drinking in the pub where they planned the heist
The huge hole drilled by a gang that ransacked a Hatton Garden Safe Deposit vault
The Baker Street robbery of 1971 – £3million
Value today: £37million
Loss: Most remains missing
This robbery on Baker Street in central London took place in September 1971 – close to where the fictitious detective Sherlock Holmes once lived. He would have been proud of the amateur radio operator whose sleuth work resulted in their capture.
The thieves rented a shop two doors down from the branch of Lloyds Bank that was raided. They tunnelled their way into the vault over several months and made off with up to £3million worth of money and valuables from safety deposit boxes.
The robbers were caught after the radio operator, Robert Rowlands, overheard their conversations on walkie-talkies used in the heist and told the police. The 35-year-old had been trying to tune in to Radio Luxembourg. Four people were jailed but it is believed at least another four escaped. Just a small fraction of the money and stolen items was recovered.
Guy Dark, manager of Lloyds Bank in Baker Street, outside the bank after the robbery
The robbers were caught after the radio operator, Robert Rowlands, overheard their conversations on walkie-talkies
And five other major heists that shocked the world…
The Central Bank of Iraq robbery of 2003 – £720million
Worth today: £1.3billion
Loss: £211million remains missing
The mastermind behind the largest bank heist in history is none other than the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussain.
A day before the Iraq War began in March 2003, when a US-led coalition invaded the country, the leader sent three large trucks to the Central Bank and got it to withdraw $920million (£720million) to keep it away from enemy hands.
Some $650million was recovered, much of it found stashed away in his palaces. Despite the later capture of Sadam, and sons Qusay and Uday who were involved in the theft, $270million (£211million) was never recovered.
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist of 1990 – £390million
Worth today: £1billion
Loss: All the artwork remains missing
The largest art theft in history was committed in 1990 when two men disguised as police officers entered this Boston museum in the United States, tied up guards and made off with 13 paintings.
Among the stolen works were masterpieces by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Degas and Manet, which had a total value that was estimated at at least $500million (£390million).
Experts believe the hoard could conservatively now be worth more than double this value. The empty frames from which canvases were cut still hang in the museum as a haunting reminder of the heist. None of the historic artwork stolen has been recovered.
Antwerp diamond heist of 2003 – £77million
Value today: £138million
Loss: Most of the diamonds remain missing
Posing as a diamond merchant, Italian thief Leonardo Notarbartolo rented an office in the Antwerp Diamond Centre in Belgium in 2003. He and four accomplices bypassed ten layers of security – including infrared heat detectives, magnetic fields and combination locks – to break into 123 safes in an underground vault.
They stole $100million (£77million) of diamonds, gold and other jewels. They were caught when a receipt from a sandwich he bought was discovered in a field along with evidence supposed to be burned. Sentenced to ten years, Notarbartolo was released in 2009 but rearrested in 2013 for failing to compensate victims, remaining jailed until 2017. Most of the diamonds stolen have not been recovered.
The Harry Winston Heists of 2007 and 2008 – £85million
Value today: £136million
Loss: More than £50million remains missing
The upmarket Harry Winston jewellery store in Paris was victim of two smash-and-grab robberies. The first was in 2007 when thieves made off with $37million (£28million) of jewels.
The second from the same gang was in 2008 when precious items valued at $73million (£57million) were taken. In the return raid four men in disguise – three dressed as women in wigs – took 104 watches and 297 pieces of jewellery. In the previous raid the thieves had dressed as workmen and taken 480 pieces of jewellery.
Eight men were convicted for both raids, including a jewellery store security guard at Harry Winston. Ringleader Douadi Yahiaoui was jailed for 15 years. More than half of the jewellery stolen remains unaccounted for.
The Banco Central burglary of 2005 – £55million
Worth today: £96million
Loss: £49million remains missing
The burglary took place in 2005 in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza. A 25-member strong gang set up a fake landscaping business in a nearby building and used this as a base to dig a 256-foot tunnel over a three-month period that led them up through to the bank's vault floor. They stole 160million Brazilian reais (worth $71.6million – or £55million). Despite investigations and numerous arrests, the masterminds behind the heist remain unknown. Just 20 million reais was recovered.
