Albert Spaggiari
Encyclopedia
Albert Spaggiari nicknamed Bert, was a French
criminal
chiefly known as the organizer of a break-in into a Société Générale
bank
in Nice
, France in 1976.
in the Hautes-Alpes
département. He grew up in Hyères
, where his mother had a lingerie store.
Spaggiari is reported to have committed his first robbery in order to offer a diamond to a girlfriend. Perhaps as part of a deal made with the authorities, he would later join a paratroop regiment during the Indochina War
. He was not present at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
because he was imprisoned for robbery at the time.
During the Algerian War
he worked for the Organisation de l'armée secrète (OAS), a clandestine anti-de Gaulle
and anti-decolonisation
organization. Despite the fact that he was probably more a sympathizer than a real activist, Spaggiari was later sentenced to some years in prison for his OAS activities. During his imprisonment at the Santé
, Spaggiari wrote his first autobiographic book Faut pas rire avec les barbares ("One mustn't laugh with the barbarians"). He then supported the nationalist candidacy of Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour
in the French presidential election, 1965
.
In 1976 he was the owner of a photographic
studio in Nice, living in a house in the hills over Nice named Les Oies Sauvages. But he apparently quickly became bored with his law-abiding middle-class life. Later accounts described him as cavalier and stylish.
from below. Spaggiari rented a box in the bank vault for himself and then put a loud alarm clock
in the vault. He set the clock to ring at night in order to check the possible existence of any acoustic or seismic detection gear. In fact, there were no alarms
protecting the vault because it was considered utterly impregnable; the door wall was extremely thick and there was no obvious way to access the other walls.
Spaggiari contacted professional gangsters from Marseille
. Although it has never been verified, he probably got support from Gaëtano Zampa to build a team that was completed by some of his OAS friends, including would-be-assassin
of Charles De Gaulle
Gaby Anglade and con artist Jean Kay. His men made their way into the sewer
s and began a two-month effort to dig an eight meter long tunnel from the sewer to under the vault. Spaggiari had taken many precautions during this long dig. His men worked long hours continuously drilling. He told his men not to drink coffee nor alcohol and get at least 10 hours of sleep every shift to avoid any danger to the mission.
On July 16, 1976, during a long weekend due to Bastille Day
festivities, Spaggiari's gang broke into the vault itself. They opened 400 safe deposit box
es and stole an estimated 60 million
franc
s worth of money
, securities
and valuables.
According to some accounts, Spaggiari brought his men a meal including wine and pâté
, and reportedly they sat down in the vault for a picnic lunch, after welding the vault door shut from the inside. The gang spent hours picking through the various safe deposit boxes.
Before they left on July 20, they left this message on the walls of the vault: sans armes, ni haine, ni violence ("without weapons, nor hatred, nor violence"). This was Spaggiari's message to the world, implying that he considered himself to be something more than a common thief.
were baffled. However, by the end of October, they were closing in, and on a tip from a former girlfriend, they arrested one of the errant thieves. After a lengthy interrogation he turned over the entire gang, including Spaggiari. When Spaggiari, who had been accompanying the mayor of Nice Jacques Médecin
in the Far East as a photographer, returned to Nice, he was arrested at the airport.
Spaggiari chose Jacques Peyrat
, a veteran of the French Foreign Legion
who belonged at the time to the National Front, as his defence attorney. Spaggiari first denied his involvement in the break-in, then acknowledged it but claimed that he was working to fund a secret political organization named the "Catena" (Italian for Chain) that seems to have existed only in his fantasy.
During his case hearings, Spaggiari devised an escape plan. He made a fictitious document which he claimed as evidence. He made the document coded so it had to be deciphered by the judge. He distracted judge Richard Bouaziz with this document and then jumped out of a window, landed safely on a parked car
and escaped on a waiting motorcycle
. Some reports claimed that the owner of the car later received a 5000 francs cheque
in the mail for the damage to his roof.
Left-wing papers later claimed that Spaggiari had received help from his political friends, in particular from ex-OAS militants close to the mayor of Nice, Jacques Médecin
. The accusations forced Médecin to go through a second round of voting at the local elections of 1977.
In 1995, Jacques Peyrat
accused Christian Estrosi
, French minister and former motorcycle champion, of having been Spaggiari's driver. But later Estrosi proved that on that day he had been motorcycle racing.
to a life in prison. Reportedly he underwent plastic surgery
and spent probably most of the rest of his life in Argentina. However, it is reported that Spaggiari came several times clandestinely to France, visiting his mother or his wife "Audi". For the publishing of his last book Le journal d'une truffe he gave an interview to Bernard Pivot
for the TV program Apostrophes that was reportedly recorded in France.
According to a CIA document declassified in 2000 and publicised by the National Security Archive
, Michael Townley
, the DINA international agent responsible for the murder of Orlando Letelier
, a member of Salvador Allende
's government, in Washington DC, 1976, was in contact with Spaggiari. Information contained in the document suggests that Spaggiari (code name "Daniel") conducted operations on behalf of DINA.
Spaggiari was said to have died under "mysterious circumstances". The press reported that his body was found by his mother in front of her home on June 10, 1989, having been carried back to France by unknown friends. However it now seems well established that his wife "Audi" was with him when he died of throat cancer
on June 8, 1989, in a country house in Belluno
, Italy
. She drove the corpse from Italy to Hyères and lied to the police (it being a criminal offence to carry a cadaver).
Remains of the loot from the heist have never been found.
as The Heist of the Century (also published as The Gentleman of 16 July and Under the Streets of Nice). To the outrage of Ken Follett some publishers brought it out as a new Ken Follett book, while it was in fact little more than a rushed through translation.
Three movies were produced which were also based on the Nice bank robbery:
The Canadian television series Masterminds
created an episode reenacting the story of the robbery. A Czech movie Prachy dělaj člověka
contains a reference to the heist, suggesting that one of the characters participated in it.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
criminal
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
chiefly known as the organizer of a break-in into a Société Générale
Société Générale
Société Générale S.A. is a large European Bank and a major Financial Services company that has a substantial global presence. Its registered office is on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, while its head office is in the Tours Société Générale in the business district of La...
bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
in Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, France in 1976.
Earlier life
Spaggiari was born in Laragne-MontéglinLaragne-Montéglin
Laragne-Montéglin is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France.-Population:-References:*...
in the Hautes-Alpes
Hautes-Alpes
Hautes-Alpes is a department in southeastern France named after the Alps mountain range.- History :Hautes-Alpes is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
département. He grew up in Hyères
Hyères
Hyères , Provençal Occitan: Ieras in classical norm or Iero in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France....
, where his mother had a lingerie store.
Spaggiari is reported to have committed his first robbery in order to offer a diamond to a girlfriend. Perhaps as part of a deal made with the authorities, he would later join a paratroop regiment during the Indochina War
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
. He was not present at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist revolutionaries. The battle occurred between March and May 1954 and culminated in a comprehensive French defeat that...
because he was imprisoned for robbery at the time.
During the Algerian War
Algerian War of Independence
The Algerian War was a conflict between France and Algerian independence movements from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria's gaining its independence from France...
he worked for the Organisation de l'armée secrète (OAS), a clandestine anti-de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
and anti-decolonisation
Decolonization
Decolonization refers to the undoing of colonialism, the unequal relation of polities whereby one people or nation establishes and maintains dependent Territory over another...
organization. Despite the fact that he was probably more a sympathizer than a real activist, Spaggiari was later sentenced to some years in prison for his OAS activities. During his imprisonment at the Santé
La Santé Prison
La Santé Prison is a prison operated by the Ministry of Justice located in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is one of the most famous prisons in France, with both VIP and high security wings....
, Spaggiari wrote his first autobiographic book Faut pas rire avec les barbares ("One mustn't laugh with the barbarians"). He then supported the nationalist candidacy of Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour
Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour
Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour was a lawyer and French nationalist politician. He was a candidate in the 1965 French presidential election when his campaign manager was Jean-Marie Le Pen. He won 1,260,208 votes, which was 5.2% of the total, giving him fourth place after De Gaulle, Mitterrand and...
in the French presidential election, 1965
French presidential election, 1965
The 1965 French presidential election was the first presidential election by direct universal suffrage of the Fifth Republic. It was also the first presidential election by direct universal suffrage since the Second Republic in 1848. It was won by incumbent president Charles de Gaulle who resigned...
.
In 1976 he was the owner of a photographic
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
studio in Nice, living in a house in the hills over Nice named Les Oies Sauvages. But he apparently quickly became bored with his law-abiding middle-class life. Later accounts described him as cavalier and stylish.
Heist
When Spaggiari heard that the sewers were close to the vault of the Société Générale bank, he began to plan a break-in into the bank. Eventually he decided to do it by digging into the bank vaultBank vault
A bank vault is a secure space where money, valuables, records, and documents can be stored. It is intended to protect their contents from theft, unauthorized use, fire, natural disasters, and other threats, just like a safe...
from below. Spaggiari rented a box in the bank vault for himself and then put a loud alarm clock
Alarm clock
An alarm clock is a clock that is designed to make a loud sound at a specific time. The primary use of these clocks is to awaken people from their night's sleep or short naps; they are sometimes used for other reminders as well. To stop the sound, a button or handle on the clock is pressed; but...
in the vault. He set the clock to ring at night in order to check the possible existence of any acoustic or seismic detection gear. In fact, there were no alarms
Burglar alarm
Burglar , alarms are systems designed to detect unauthorized entry into a building or area. They consist of an array of sensors, a control panel and alerting system, and interconnections...
protecting the vault because it was considered utterly impregnable; the door wall was extremely thick and there was no obvious way to access the other walls.
Spaggiari contacted professional gangsters from Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
. Although it has never been verified, he probably got support from Gaëtano Zampa to build a team that was completed by some of his OAS friends, including would-be-assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of Charles De Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
Gaby Anglade and con artist Jean Kay. His men made their way into the sewer
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
s and began a two-month effort to dig an eight meter long tunnel from the sewer to under the vault. Spaggiari had taken many precautions during this long dig. His men worked long hours continuously drilling. He told his men not to drink coffee nor alcohol and get at least 10 hours of sleep every shift to avoid any danger to the mission.
On July 16, 1976, during a long weekend due to Bastille Day
Bastille Day
Bastille Day is the name given in English-speaking countries to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July of each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale and commonly le quatorze juillet...
festivities, Spaggiari's gang broke into the vault itself. They opened 400 safe deposit box
Safe deposit box
A safe deposit box or wrongly referred to as a safety deposit box is an individually-secured container, usually held within a larger safe or bank vault. Safe deposit boxes are generally located in banks, post offices or other institutions...
es and stole an estimated 60 million
Million
One million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106...
franc
French franc
The franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money...
s worth of money
Money
Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...
, securities
Security (finance)
A security is generally a fungible, negotiable financial instrument representing financial value. Securities are broadly categorized into:* debt securities ,* equity securities, e.g., common stocks; and,...
and valuables.
According to some accounts, Spaggiari brought his men a meal including wine and pâté
Pâté
Pâté is a mixture of ground meat and fat minced into a spreadable paste. Common additions include vegetables, herbs, spices, and either wine or cognac, armagnac or brandy...
, and reportedly they sat down in the vault for a picnic lunch, after welding the vault door shut from the inside. The gang spent hours picking through the various safe deposit boxes.
Before they left on July 20, they left this message on the walls of the vault: sans armes, ni haine, ni violence ("without weapons, nor hatred, nor violence"). This was Spaggiari's message to the world, implying that he considered himself to be something more than a common thief.
Capture and escape
At first the French policePolice
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
were baffled. However, by the end of October, they were closing in, and on a tip from a former girlfriend, they arrested one of the errant thieves. After a lengthy interrogation he turned over the entire gang, including Spaggiari. When Spaggiari, who had been accompanying the mayor of Nice Jacques Médecin
Jacques Médecin
Jacques Médecin was a French politician. A member of the Gaullist RPR, he served as mayor of the city of Nice from 1966 to 1990...
in the Far East as a photographer, returned to Nice, he was arrested at the airport.
Spaggiari chose Jacques Peyrat
Jacques Peyrat
Jacques Peyrat is a right-wing French politician and lawyer who has been mayor of Nice since 1995 and senator from the Alpes-Maritimes since 1998....
, a veteran of the French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
who belonged at the time to the National Front, as his defence attorney. Spaggiari first denied his involvement in the break-in, then acknowledged it but claimed that he was working to fund a secret political organization named the "Catena" (Italian for Chain) that seems to have existed only in his fantasy.
During his case hearings, Spaggiari devised an escape plan. He made a fictitious document which he claimed as evidence. He made the document coded so it had to be deciphered by the judge. He distracted judge Richard Bouaziz with this document and then jumped out of a window, landed safely on a parked car
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
and escaped on a waiting motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
. Some reports claimed that the owner of the car later received a 5000 francs cheque
Cheque
A cheque is a document/instrument See the negotiable cow—itself a fictional story—for discussions of cheques written on unusual surfaces. that orders a payment of money from a bank account...
in the mail for the damage to his roof.
Left-wing papers later claimed that Spaggiari had received help from his political friends, in particular from ex-OAS militants close to the mayor of Nice, Jacques Médecin
Jacques Médecin
Jacques Médecin was a French politician. A member of the Gaullist RPR, he served as mayor of the city of Nice from 1966 to 1990...
. The accusations forced Médecin to go through a second round of voting at the local elections of 1977.
In 1995, Jacques Peyrat
Jacques Peyrat
Jacques Peyrat is a right-wing French politician and lawyer who has been mayor of Nice since 1995 and senator from the Alpes-Maritimes since 1998....
accused Christian Estrosi
Christian Estrosi
Christian Estrosi is a French politician of Italian origin, member of the French Parliament , mayor of Nice since 2008. He is a supporter of Nicolas Sarkozy....
, French minister and former motorcycle champion, of having been Spaggiari's driver. But later Estrosi proved that on that day he had been motorcycle racing.
Life in hiding
Spaggiari remained free for the rest of his life. He was sentenced in absentiaIn absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
to a life in prison. Reportedly he underwent plastic surgery
Plastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand...
and spent probably most of the rest of his life in Argentina. However, it is reported that Spaggiari came several times clandestinely to France, visiting his mother or his wife "Audi". For the publishing of his last book Le journal d'une truffe he gave an interview to Bernard Pivot
Bernard Pivot
Bernard Pivot, OC, CQ is a journalist, interviewer and host of French cultural television programmes. He is a member of the Académie Goncourt.-Biography:Pivot was born in Lyon, the son of grocers...
for the TV program Apostrophes that was reportedly recorded in France.
According to a CIA document declassified in 2000 and publicised by the National Security Archive
National Security Archive
The National Security Archive is a 501 non-governmental, non-profit research and archival institution located in the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.. Founded in 1985 by Scott Armstrong, it archives and publishes declassified U.S. government files concerning selected topics of US...
, Michael Townley
Michael Townley
Michael Vernon Townley is a US citizen currently living in the United States under terms of the federal witness protection program. A Central Intelligence Agency agent and operative of the Chilean secret police, DINA, Townley confessed, was convicted, and served 62 months in prison in the United...
, the DINA international agent responsible for the murder of Orlando Letelier
Orlando Letelier
Marcos Orlando Letelier del Solar was a Chilean economist, Socialist politician and diplomat during the presidency of Socialist President Salvador Allende...
, a member of Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....
's government, in Washington DC, 1976, was in contact with Spaggiari. Information contained in the document suggests that Spaggiari (code name "Daniel") conducted operations on behalf of DINA.
Spaggiari was said to have died under "mysterious circumstances". The press reported that his body was found by his mother in front of her home on June 10, 1989, having been carried back to France by unknown friends. However it now seems well established that his wife "Audi" was with him when he died of throat cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
on June 8, 1989, in a country house in Belluno
Belluno
Belluno , is a town and province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Located about 100 kilometres north of Venice, Belluno is the capital of the province of Belluno and the most important city in the Eastern Dolomiti's region. With its roughly 37,000 inhabitants, it the largest populated area...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. She drove the corpse from Italy to Hyères and lied to the police (it being a criminal offence to carry a cadaver).
Remains of the loot from the heist have never been found.
Works
- Faut pas rire avec les barbares (1977)
- Les égouts du paradis (1978)
- Le journal d'une truffe (1983)
Popular culture
French authors René-Louis Maurice and Jean-Claude Simoën wrote the book Cinq Milliards au bout de l'égout (1977) about Spaggiari's bank heist in Nice. Their work was translated in 1978 by the British author Ken FollettKen Follett
Ken Follett is a Welsh author of thrillers and historical novels. He has sold more than 100 million copies of his works. Four of his books have reached the number 1 ranking on the New York Times best-seller list: The Key to Rebecca, Lie Down with Lions, Triple, and World Without End.-Early...
as The Heist of the Century (also published as The Gentleman of 16 July and Under the Streets of Nice). To the outrage of Ken Follett some publishers brought it out as a new Ken Follett book, while it was in fact little more than a rushed through translation.
Three movies were produced which were also based on the Nice bank robbery:
- Les égouts du paradisLes Égouts du paradisLes Égouts du paradis is a 1979 French film directed by José Giovanni, based on a 1976 heist by Albert Spaggiari.-Cast and roles:* Francis Huster - Albert Spaggiari* Jean-François Balmer - 68* Lila Kedrova - Charlotte...
, a French movie directed by José GiovanniJosé GiovanniJosé Giovanni , was the pseudonym of Joseph Damiani, a French-Swiss writer and film-maker of Corsican origin....
(1979). - The Great Riviera Bank RobberyThe Great Riviera Bank RobberyThe Great Riviera Bank Robbery , is a motion picture written and directed by Francis Megahy. Main actors Ian McShane, Warren Clarke, Stephen Greif, and Christopher Malcolm.-Synopsis:...
(also known Dirty Money and Sewers of Gold), a British movie directed by Francis Megahy (1979). - Sans arme, ni haine, ni violence, a French movie directed by Jean-Paul RouveJean-Paul RouveJean-Paul Rouve , who was part of Les Robins des Bois, is a French film and television actor. He is also a film director and screenwriter.-Career:Rouve has appeared in over thirty films and over ten television productions....
(2008)
The Canadian television series Masterminds
Masterminds (Canadian TV series)
Masterminds was a true crime documentary television series produced in Canada with truTV .As of February 2011, the program is broadcast on History Television and Global TV in Canada and truTV in the United States....
created an episode reenacting the story of the robbery. A Czech movie Prachy dělaj člověka
Prachy dělaj člověka
Prachy dělaj člověka is a Czech comedy film. It was released in 2006....
contains a reference to the heist, suggesting that one of the characters participated in it.
External links
- Sewer Rats - Extensive article on Albert Spaggiari and the Nice bank robbery
- Albert Spaggiari page dealing with multimedia and detailed articles