13 documented events · 4 mapped locations · documented resolution
After years of preparation and legitimate tenant access, Leonardo Notarbartolo and associates bypassed the Antwerp Diamond Center’s layered alarms and forced more than one hundred safe-deposit boxes. Their operational security collapsed...
After years of preparation and legitimate tenant access, Leonardo Notarbartolo and associates bypassed the Antwerp Diamond Center’s layered alarms and forced more than one hundred safe-deposit boxes. Their operational security collapsed when burglary refuse was abandoned beside the E19; documents, receipts, DNA and gemstone traces led investigators to the crew. Four men were convicted, but an additional specialist was never publicly identified, the precise loss remains uncertain, and nearly all of the diamonds, jewelry, cash and precious metals remain missing.
Case record
Leonardo Notarbartolo in Stolen: Heist of the Century
Recent developments
Recent reporting and official developments, labeled by source and verification status.
Apr 28, 2026 · Corriere della Sera
Italian authorities arrested convicted Antwerp participant Elio D’Onorio after an alleged attempted restaurant burglary involving electronic interference equipment.
Context
The 2026 allegations concern a separate incident and do not indicate recovery of Antwerp property or a new finding about the 2003 burglary.
The scale
Key figures are drawn from the published case record.
The case sequence
This selection follows the major progression of the case from its earliest documented event through the latest material development.
See all 4 mapped locations →Jan 1, 2000
Using a diamond-business front, Notarbartolo rented office space and a safe-deposit box. His tenant badge and routine visits provided repeated access to the building, its procedures and the underground vault long before the burglary.
Feb 14, 2003
Security footage showed Notarbartolo making a routine vault visit the day before the burglary. In his later account, he said he coated the combined heat-and-motion detector with hairspray to delay its response; that particular act is a reported claim, not an independently published forensic finding.
Feb 17, 2003
When the Diamond Center reopened Monday morning, its three-ton vault door stood open and the floor was covered with forced boxes, containers and valuables the burglars had left behind. Alarm monitoring still reported the vault secure, immediately demonstrating that its layered protections had been bypassed.
Feb 21, 2003
Unaware that the refuse had identified him, Notarbartolo returned to Antwerp to return his rental car and appear at the Diamond Center as usual. Building staff alerted investigators; police detained him and used his directions to locate the nearby apartment as companions were preparing to leave with bags and a rolled carpet.
Jan 1, 2009
After serving part of the ten-year sentence, Notarbartolo was conditionally released. Belgian authorities later sought his return after he failed to comply with compensation-related conditions.
Jan 1, 2017
Notarbartolo was released after serving the remaining term. The unidentified specialists had not been publicly resolved and the overwhelming majority of the stolen diamonds, jewelry, cash and precious metals remained unrecovered.
How the record develops
Using a diamond-business front, Notarbartolo rented office space and a safe-deposit box. His tenant badge and routine visits provided repeated access to the building, its procedures and the underground vault long before the burglary.
Unaware that the refuse had identified him, Notarbartolo returned to Antwerp to return his rental car and appear at the Diamond Center as usual. Building staff alerted investigators; police detained him and used his directions to locate the nearby apartment as companions were preparing to leave with bags and a rolled carpet.
Notarbartolo was released after serving the remaining term. The unidentified specialists had not been publicly resolved and the overwhelming majority of the stolen diamonds, jewelry, cash and precious metals remained unrecovered.
Notarbartolo was released after serving the remaining term. The unidentified specialists had not been publicly resolved and the overwhelming majority of the stolen diamonds, jewelry, cash and precious metals remained unrecovered.
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This overview is the map. The case tabs hold the underlying events, people, media, locations, and source material.