A near-perfect crime? Diamonds still missing in Brussels heist as four more acquitted

A brazen diamond heist at Brussels airport appears to be becoming a near-perfect crime as almost a decade passed and the precious stones still remain missing.

On Wednesday, four more accused were acquitted, making it unclear whether the authorities will ever find the mastermind.

The heist was compared to the Hollywood movie Ocean’s Eleven for such a clinical and clean execution, which left no one hurt.

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The court had convicted one person and sentenced him to five years in prison while recovering a small part of the loot which was estimated to be worth $50 million in 2013, and 18 others were acquitted in 2018.

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In its ruling, the Brussels appeals court said that “the elements of the investigation are not sufficiently reliable” and that they were not sufficient for convicting the last four defendants.

In 2013, eight robbers dressed as police personnel entered the Brussels international airport by cutting through the security fences, and walked towards a Swiss-bound plane where people were loading parcels of gems from the nearby Antwerp global diamond hub.

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The robbers brandished machine guns at transport security officials and pilots and took away 120 parcels. The robbery took only five minutes and none of the 29 passengers on board the plane were aware of anything that happened.

“There were so many elements that were presented as overwhelming evidence, but after a close look appeared to be deformed, and badly interpreted,” defence lawyer Benjamine Bovy said.

“The mountain gave birth to a mouse,” Bovy added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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