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centrespread
centrespread
OCTOBER 25-31, 2015
Pulling a Fast One
GOODFELLAS,
25 YEARS
LATER
On October 19, former Italian-American mobster Vincent Asaro, 80, went on trial in
Brooklyn for his role in the 1978 robbery of over $6 million in cash and jewellery from a
Lufthansa Airlines cargo building at the John F Kennedy Airport in New York. The incident
was immortalised by Martin Scorsese’s epic gangster flick Goodfellas which had, as key
characters, some of those involved in the heist. The heist is one among several in the last
few decades which have left investigators and the public incredulous. ET Magazine takes
a look at these infamous heists and Goodfellas itself, for this year is its 25th anniversary
A film which
constantly battles
The Godfather and
The Godfather II
in the minds of
cinephiles for the
title of the ‘greatest
gangster film ever’,
Goodfellas revived
director Martin
Scorsese’s career,
when it came out in
September 1990 as
well as the careers of Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro. The
film is based on the book Wiseguy by Nicolas Pileggi,
who wrote the screenplay with Scorsese. Narrating the
tale of Henry Hill, a Lucchese family associate, from his
rise as a mobster to his turn as an FBI informant, the
film had De Niro playing a role based on Jimmy Burke
and Pesci portraying a character based on Tommy
DeSimone who was involved in the Lufthansa heist.
:: G Seetharaman
LUFTHANSA
ABN AMRO
Allegedly planned by
Asaro, a member of the
Bonanno crime family, and
James Burke, a Lucchese
family associate
nicknamed ‘Jimmy the
Gent’, the heist involved
six other people,
including Burke’s son.
Carried out on the night
of December 11, 1978,
the robbery at the John
F Kennedy International
Airport was first thought
to fetch $2 million, a
third of the actual bounty,
which included jewellery
and German bank notes.
One of the biggest heists
on American soil, little
of the money has been
recovered
15
OCTOBER 25-31, 2015
IRAQI
CENTRAL
BANK
In March 2007,
ABN Amro Bank
discovered that a
man had made off
This may not exactly
be a heist, but may be
the single biggest
with diamonds
worth $28
million from
Hours before the first
American assault
on March 18, 2003,
then Iraqi president
its branch in the
diamond quarter
of Antwerp,
Belgium. The man,
who had used the
name Carlos Hector
Flomenbaum
and an Argentine
passport stolen in
Israel a few years
ago and who was
said to have spoken
English with an
American accent,
had been a regular
trusted customer at
the bank for a year
before he pulled
off the heist. The
case is yet to be
cracked
bank robbery.
Saddam Hussein
ordered his sons and
personal advisor
to lighten the
country’s central
bank in Baghdad
of a whopping $1
billion, about 90% of
which was in $100
bills and the rest
in euros. Around
$650 million, which
was believed to be
part of the loot, was
recovered from
Hussein’s son Uday’s
palace during the
war, and another
$250 million was
recovered from an
armoured vehicle
The film earned six Oscar
nominations but managed to win only
one, the Best Supporting Actor trophy
for Pesci for his turn as an impulsive,
fast-talking, pint-sized gangster.
Scorsese won the Best Director award
at the Venice Film Festival
ANTWERP
DIAMOND
CENTRE
Called the world’s
largest safe-deposit
box theft, the heist at
In 2007 the American Film Institute ranked
the film 92nd on its ‘100 Years…100 Movies’ listing
the Antwerp Diamond
Centre on February 16,
2003 involved 123 of
the 160 vaults and
diamonds worth $100
million were stolen.
Investigators called this
an inside job, carried
out by someone familiar
with the complex
security system. The
crime was traced to a
five-men group called
the ‘School of Turin’,
led by Leonardo
Notarbartolo, who
was arrested and who
claimed they stole
only $20 million and
that it was part of an
insurance scam. The
diamonds are yet to
be recovered
In 2008 Empire magazine named it the sixth best film
ever, with The Godfather topping the list
PRIVATE
BAGHDAD
BANK
PARIS JEWELLERY STORE
In July 2007 three
guards who worked at
the private
Dar es Salaam
bank in Baghdad’s
Karrada district
made off with over
$280 million. The
perpetrators remain
on the run and the
money has not yet
been recovered
In October 2007, four thieves posed as builders
and entered the Harry Winston jewellery store
and walked away with items worth $35 million.
A year later, four robbers, three of them dressed as
women, grabbed items valued at $79 million
from the same store. Some of the loot has been
recovered and eight men, including the mastermind
of both heists, Douadi Yahiaoui and a security
guard at the store, were convicted of the crime and
sentenced to nine months to 15 years
Source: The New York Times, Associated Press, The Telegraph, The Guardian, IMDb