Progress in Brussels Diamond Heist as 19 to Face Trial
January 04, 16
(IDEX Online News) – Nineteen people are to face trial over involvement in the $50 million diamond heist at Brussel’s airport in February 2013, according to the Belga news agency.
During the daring robbery, one of the world’s largest thefts, a large shipment of diamonds was stolen as they were loaded onto a Helvetic Airways plane to Zurich.
To pull off the attack, eight armed and masked men in two vans crashed a fence surrounding the tarmac. The two vans then rushed to a Brink's vehicle as the security team was loading the cargo on the plane. Once they had the goods in their possession, they left the airport through the same opening in the fence.
More than 30 people were detained in Belgium, France and Switzerland in massive coordinated police operations over a diamond heist in Brussels
According to AFP, prosecutors said nine suspects face charges of direct involvement in the robbery and the rest on charges of hiding the diamonds. Six of the suspects are also charged with money laundering in Belgium, Switzerland and Morocco.
In November, a Swiss court gave an estate agent and his lawyer two-year suspended sentences and fines for handling stolen goods.