Security

13.3, stolen diamonds

Netherlands: a man stole US$28mn worth of diamonds from an Antwerp bank where he had been a trusted customer for a year, using a stolen Argentine passport. Prosecutors say the suspect broke into safety deposit boxes in an ABM Amro bank in the city’s diamond quarter. He made off with diamonds weighing 120,000 carats. Police believe he may have carefully planned the robbery, becoming one of several trusted diamond traders with access to the vault. The suspect had used the name Carlos Hector Flomenbaum from Argentina. Authorities now believe that he was using a false identity because a passport in that name was stolen in Israel a few years ago. Police offered a US$2mn reward for information on the man’s whereabouts.