Thieves plundered millions in valuables over Easter holiday from the vault of a safety deposit company in Hatton Garden, London's exclusive jewelry district. Stolen cash and jewelry could be worth almost $300 million (￡200m), <a target="_blank" target="_blank">a former Scotland Yard commander told the BBC</a>, though numerous British news organizations put the loss vastly lower, in the hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Thieves plundered millions in valuables over Easter holiday from the vault of a safety deposit company in Hatton Garden, London's exclusive jewelry district. Stolen cash and jewelry could be worth almost $300 million (￡200m), a former Scotland Yard commander told the BBC, though numerous British news organizations put the loss vastly lower, in the hundreds of thousands of pounds.
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In July 2013, an armed robber <a >held up a jewelry exhibition at the Carlton Hotel</a> in the French resort city of Cannes, stealing jewels worth an estimated 102 million euros ($136 million).
In July 2013, an armed robber held up a jewelry exhibition at the Carlton Hotel in the French resort city of Cannes, stealing jewels worth an estimated 102 million euros ($136 million).
VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images
In 1978 gangster Jimmy "The Gent" Burke stole $8 million in cash and jewels from John F. Kennedy International Airport. It was considered the largest robbery in U.S. history at the time. Burke died in 1996 while serving 20 years to life in a New York prison when he fell ill with cancer. In January 2014, five alleged mobsters were arrested on racketeering charges related to the 1978 heist.
In 1978 gangster Jimmy "The Gent" Burke stole $8 million in cash and jewels from John F. Kennedy International Airport. It was considered the largest robbery in U.S. history at the time. Burke died in 1996 while serving 20 years to life in a New York prison when he fell ill with cancer. In January 2014, five alleged mobsters were arrested on racketeering charges related to the 1978 heist.
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In 1990, robbers posing as Boston police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's security door, then handcuffed the guards on duty to pipes in the basement. The 13 pieces of stolen artwork, including works by Rembrandt and Vermeer, were valued at $500 million, and are yet to be recovered, despite a $5 million reward offered by the museum for their recovery. Earlier this month, the museum offered $100,000 for the return of one stolen item: a 10-inch-tall gilded bronze eagle -- a finial dating from the Napoleonic era.
In 1990, robbers posing as Boston police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's security door, then handcuffed the guards on duty to pipes in the basement. The 13 pieces of stolen artwork, including works by Rembrandt and Vermeer, were valued at $500 million, and are yet to be recovered, despite a $5 million reward offered by the museum for their recovery. Earlier this month, the museum offered $100,000 for the return of one stolen item: a 10-inch-tall gilded bronze eagle -- a finial dating from the Napoleonic era.
file/AP
A gang of robbers posing as a landscape company dug a tunnel underneath Banco Central in Fortaleza, Brazil. On a Saturday in August 2005, they broke through concrete and steel into a vault and stole $69.8 million (165 million Brazilian reais). A few involved have been caught, but it remains an open case.
A gang of robbers posing as a landscape company dug a tunnel underneath Banco Central in Fortaleza, Brazil. On a Saturday in August 2005, they broke through concrete and steel into a vault and stole $69.8 million (165 million Brazilian reais). A few involved have been caught, but it remains an open case.
TUNO VIERA/AFP/Getty Images
Cybercriminals from New York <a >stole $45 million from banks</a> globally by breaking into the banks' systems to drastically increase the amount available on the cards, and then used the information about the cards to withdraw money at banks around the world. Seven were charged and the group leader, Alberto Yusi Lajud-Pe?a, was killed in April 2013. The photo shows suspects Elvis Rafael Rodriguez (left) and Emir Yasser Yeje, pose with bundles of cash.
Cybercriminals from New York stole $45 million from banks globally by breaking into the banks' systems to drastically increase the amount available on the cards, and then used the information about the cards to withdraw money at banks around the world. Seven were charged and the group leader, Alberto Yusi Lajud-Pe?a, was killed in April 2013. The photo shows suspects Elvis Rafael Rodriguez (left) and Emir Yasser Yeje, pose with bundles of cash.
U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York/AP
Wearing suits and in professional disguise makeup, two men stole 43 items worth $65 million in the middle of the day from Graff Jewelry Store in London in 2009. They threatened employees with handguns while collecting the merchandise, then drove off in a BMW. The two men were later arrested and jailed. Among the stolen items was this platinum diamond pendant hat.
Wearing suits and in professional disguise makeup, two men stole 43 items worth $65 million in the middle of the day from Graff Jewelry Store in London in 2009. They threatened employees with handguns while collecting the merchandise, then drove off in a BMW. The two men were later arrested and jailed. Among the stolen items was this platinum diamond pendant hat.
Metropolitan Police/Getty Images
Just hours before the United States began bombing Iraq in 2003, Saddam Hussein's family took $1 billion from the country's central bank. People who lived near the Central Bank at the time told CNN that they saw three or four trucks backed up to the bank, and that people appeared to be load money onto them. Since he was acting as an absolute ruler at the time, it may have seemed to him more like a withdrawal than a robbery.
Just hours before the United States began bombing Iraq in 2003, Saddam Hussein's family took $1 billion from the country's central bank. People who lived near the Central Bank at the time told CNN that they saw three or four trucks backed up to the bank, and that people appeared to be load money onto them. Since he was acting as an absolute ruler at the time, it may have seemed to him more like a withdrawal than a robbery.
David Furst/Pool/Getty Images
In 1983, six thieves broke into the Brink's-MAT warehouse at Heathrow Airport in London, thinking they would grab a few million in cash. However, they found gold ingots, diamonds and cash worth a total of 28 million pounds (about $50 million at the time). The thieves tied up three guards, doused them in gasoline and said they would light the guards on fire if they didn't give the pass codes to the vault. Just three of 15 men involved in planning and executing the robbery were ever convicted.
In 1983, six thieves broke into the Brink's-MAT warehouse at Heathrow Airport in London, thinking they would grab a few million in cash. However, they found gold ingots, diamonds and cash worth a total of 28 million pounds (about $50 million at the time). The thieves tied up three guards, doused them in gasoline and said they would light the guards on fire if they didn't give the pass codes to the vault. Just three of 15 men involved in planning and executing the robbery were ever convicted.
Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg via Getty Images
9 notorious multimillion-dollar heists

Story highlights

Robbers may have taken advantage of a four-day holiday weekend

Estimates of the value of the items taken rage from hundreds of thousands of pounds to 200 million pounds

The heist took place in a historic heart of London's jewelry business

London CNN  — 

The Hatton Garden heist, as it will surely come to be known, was every safe deposit box holder’s nightmare, every movie director’s dream.

Thieves using heavy cutting equipment and rappelling gear broke into the vault of an esteemed 60-year-old safe deposit company in the heart of London over the past holiday weekend, possibly taking advantage of as many as four days to rifle through an uncounted number of safe deposit boxes. And they reportedly got away with hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of gems and cash – even, in the educated guess of one former police official, as much as 200 million pounds, or $300 million.

Police were offering few details Wednesday of the robbery at Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd. Detectives on the scene were carrying out a “slow and painstaking” forensic examination, police said in a statement.

“Officers anticipate the process to take approximately two days,” the statement said. “At this stage it is believed that approximately 60-70 safe deposit boxes were opened during the burglary. Officers are working closely with Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd to establish the identities of those affected. Police will be contacting victims directly as and when they are identified.”

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Customers displeased

A sign denotes a Hatton Garden safe deposit centre on April 7, 2015 in London, England. Police are investigating a break in that occured over the Easter weekend. Local reports say that up to 300 deposit boxes may have been targeted.
A sign denotes a Hatton Garden safe deposit centre on April 7, 2015 in London, England. Police are investigating a break in that occured over the Easter weekend. Local reports say that up to 300 deposit boxes may have been targeted.
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
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Throughout the day Wednesday, customers of the business went in and out of the premises, clearly unhappy about not being able to learn whether their boxes were among those ransacked.

Hatton Garden is a storied area in London and the heart of the city’s diamond trade. The area’s promotional website says it is home to “the largest and most concentrated cluster of jewellery retailers in the UK” and has been for quite some time.

“History tells us that the old City of London had certain streets – or quarters – dedicated to specific types of business,” the website says. “The Hatton Garden area has been the epicentre of London’s jewellery trade since medieval times.

“Today, it maintains its international reputation as the centre of London’s diamond trade. It is one of the finest and most renowned jewellery locations in the world.”

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Could 200 million pounds have been stolen?

The police statement did not put a value on the amount of the haul. But numerous British news organizations put the figure in the hundreds of thousands of pounds, which translates into even more hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many of those who rent safe deposit boxes at the company are reportedly in the jewelry trade.

A sign denotes a Hatton Garden safe deposit centre on April 7, 2015 in London, England. Police are investigating a break in that occured over the Easter weekend. Local reports say that up to 300 deposit boxes may have been targeted.
A sign denotes a Hatton Garden safe deposit centre on April 7, 2015 in London, England. Police are investigating a break in that occured over the Easter weekend. Local reports say that up to 300 deposit boxes may have been targeted.
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
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But Roy Ramm, a former chief of the Flying Squad, an economic crime unit of London’s Metropolitan Police Service, came up with a much higher guess.

“I would not be surprised, given where this one is, in Hatton Garden, if 200 million pounds is around about the amount stolen,” Ramm said on BBC Radio 4.

Because of the long Easter weekend, police did not hear of the robbery until Tuesday morning. This may prove to be an embarrassment, as the Telegraph newspaper reported that the alarm at the business sounded Friday but, as the front and back doors still appeared locked, no action was taken.

The website of Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd. says the company was founded in 1954 and offers a “secure and cost-effective solution to store and protect important and irreplaceable personal belongings.”

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