Gerald Daniel Blanchard (born ) is a Canadian best known for orchestrating complex frauds and heists on three continents.

Early life

Gerald Blanchard grew up in Canada, and later moved to

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

with his mother Carol Phegly and sister.

Sisi Star Heist

In 1998, Blanchard stole the Star of Empress Sisi, one of 27 diamond-and-pearl hair ornaments worn by

Elisabeth of Bavaria Elisabeth (born Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria; 24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898), nicknamed Sisi or Sissi, was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Franz Joseph I of Austria on 24 April 1854 until h ...

, consort of

Francis Joseph I Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death in 1916. In the early part of his reig ...

, from the

Schönbrunn Palace Schönbrunn Palace (Austrian German, German: Schloss Schönbrunn ) was the main summer residence of the House of Habsburg, Habsburg rulers, located in Hietzing, the 13th district of Vienna. The name ''Schönbrunn'' (meaning "beautiful spring") ha ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria. Police thought that, accompanied by his wife and father-in-law posing as tourists, Blanchard disabled the alarm and replaced the jewel with a replica purchased at the souvenir shop. A parachute was found hidden near the palace grounds. Blanchard later said that he parachuted onto the palace roof from a small airplane in the middle of the night to make the swap. A few days earlier, Blanchard had toured the palace with his wife and father-in-law while video recording the layout. Police recovered a video tape on one of the many raids of Blanchard's high-end properties. The swap was not discovered until two weeks after the robbery. The loss of a priceless part of Austria's history remained unsolved until Blanchard offered to turn the jewel over to police following his arrest in Canada on fraud and robbery charges.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

In 2004, Blanchard stole $750,000 from the ATMs of a soon-to-open

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC; ) is a Canadian Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at CIBC Square in the Financial District, Toronto, Financial District of Toronto, Ont ...

, in Winnipeg, Canada. He took police to his grandmother's basement in Winnipeg where he had hidden the Sisi Star. In return for the jewel, Blanchard's co-accuseds received conditional sentences. Blanchard never identified his accomplices in any of his global heists, and he was the only one to serve prison time. The priceless Köchert Diamond Pearl was returned to Austria by a Canadian Crown Attorney in 2009. Blanchard pleaded guilty at the Court of Queen's Bench of

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

on 7 November 2007 to 16 charges of robbery and fraud in Canada and elsewhere in the world. He faced a maximum of 160 years in prison for the 16 charges, but was sentenced to just eight years by agreeing to make guilty pleas. Lawyer Danny Gunn from Campbell Gunn Inness law firm turned over the Köchert Diamond Pearl. In June 2009, after serving two years of his sentence, Blanchard was first given day parole, and paroled to a

halfway house A halfway house is a type of prison or institute intended to teach (or reteach) the necessary skills for people to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. Halfway houses are typically either state sponsored for those ...

After prison

In January 2010, Blanchard was released and was reported to be developing a new career as a security consultant. On 22 March 2010, ''

Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

'' posted an article online from their April 2010 issue called "Art of the Steal: On the Trail of the World's Most Ingenious Thief" written by

Joshuah Bearman Joshuah Bearman is an American journalist. He has written for ''Rolling Stone'', ''Harper's'', ''Wired'', ''The New York Times Magazine'', '' The Believer'', and ''McSweeney's,'' and contributes to ''This American Life.'' Bearman was a contributi ...

. It follows Blanchard's life profiling many of his heists, and his capture, prosecution, and subsequent release. * * On April 23, 2012, Blanchard was formally released from prison in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

under conditions. A book describing Blanchard's infamous theft, ''Stealing Sisi's Star: How a Master Thief Nearly Got Away with Austria's Most Famous Jewel'' by journalist Jennifer Bowers Bahney was released 21 May 2015. It details the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria and the history of the Star. In 2017, Blanchard, using the name Rick White, with an accomplice, was arrested for stealing

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

s from a Best Buy in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. In 2023, Blanchard was the focus of the

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

documentary ''The Jewel Thief''. The documentary chronicled his entire criminal career and Blanchard was interviewed in addition to his mother, father, several friends and accomplices, and several law enforcement officers who investigated Blanchard.

References

External links