2 – Knightsbridge Vault Robbery in 1987 ($97 Million)
This audacious theft took place in London on July 12, 1987. Two years previously, career criminal Valerio Viccei arrived in England to continue his illegal activities. Throughout the course of his life, Viccei was implicated in up to 50 bank robberies, but the Knightsbridge Vault Robbery is unquestionably his most famous. He enlisted the assistance of the managing director of the Knightsbridge Safe Deposit Centre, Parvez Latif, to help him with the theft, which was surprisingly simple for such a massive haul.
The duo entered the Centre and asked to rent a safety deposit box. After they had entered the vault, they withdrew handguns and quickly subdued the guards and manager. One of the robbers placed a ‘Closed’ sign on the door and allowed more gang members in to complete the heist. They cracked open as many safety deposit boxes as possible and walked away with at least $97 million in 1987 value. However, it is likely they stole much more as not all the security box owners were forthcoming about the contents.
An hour later, new staff arrived to begin their shift and discovered evidence of the crime. The police found a bloody fingerprint belonging to Viccei, but instead of arresting him immediately, they bided their time and placed the thief under surveillance. As a result, they were able to identify several members of the gang and arrested most of them on August 12, 1987.
Viccei escaped to Latin America but foolishly returned to England to ship his Ferrari Testarossa to his new home. Police were aware of his return and arrested him in a dramatic scene where they smashed his car’s windscreen and dragged the fugitive out. Viccei received 22 years in prison and was transferred from Parkhurst to Pescara, Italy to serve out his sentence. He enjoyed the relative freedom of the Italian prison until April 19, 2000. On this day, Viccei was due to be released, but somehow got involved in a gunfight with police which resulted in his death.