• Tweeter

  • republish

In 2013, more than 37 million euros of diamonds were stolen from Brussels Airport. REUTERS / Francois Lenoir / Files

A new hearing is being held on May 15 at the Criminal Court of Brussels in the case of breakage of the century. In 2013, more than 37 million euros of diamonds were stolen from Brussels Airport. This Wednesday is the appearance of the main defendant, accused of being the mastermind of the robbery, the French Marc Bertoldi.

With our correspondent in Brussels, Joana Hostein

On February 18, 2013, around 8pm, two vehicles landed at full speed on the tarmac at Brussels Airport. On board, eight individuals, hooded, dressed in police uniform, turn their weapons on the conveyors who have just dropped several suitcases in the hold of a plane that must fly to Zurich. The shipment contains gold bullion, diamonds and precious stones worth 37 million euros. The "break of the century", as it is called here, only lasted a few minutes.

Six years later, a significant portion of the loot is still in the wild. 19 defendants were acquitted, it was last year, for lack of sufficient evidence. A defense lawyer then spoke of a real "judicial shipwreck".

Today, the French word Marc Bertoldi, nicknamed Quentin Tarantino in the criminal world. The one who is suspected of being the mastermind of the robbery was the great missing of the trial in 2018, because he was imprisoned in France for a kidnapping case.