The Knightsbridge Security Deposit robbery took place on 12 July 1987 in Cheval Place,

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

, England, part of the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

in London. This robbery, the Banco Central burglary at Fortaleza, and the $900 million stolen from the

Central Bank of Iraq The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI; ) is a monetary authority established in 1947, shortly after the end of the British occupation of Iraq. The CBI's primary objectives are to ensure domestic price stability and foster a stable competitive market based ...

in 2003 are said to be the largest bank robberies in history. The robbery was led by Valerio Viccei (1955–2000), a lawyer's son who arrived in London in 1986 from his native Italy, where he was wanted for 50 armed robberies. Once in London, he quickly resumed his robbery career to fund his playboy lifestyle. On this occasion he secured inside help, obtaining the help of the managing director of the centre, Parvez Latif, a cocaine user, who was heavily in debt. On the day of the robbery, two men entered the

Safe Deposit Centre and requested to rent a

safe deposit box A safe deposit box, sometimes 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. S ...

. After being shown into the

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosur ...

, they drew handguns and subdued the manager and security guards. The thieves then hung a sign on the street-level door explaining that the Safe Deposit Centre was temporarily closed, whilst letting in further accomplices. They broke open many of the safe deposit boxes and left with a hoard estimated to be worth £60 million (equivalent to roughly US $98 million at the 1987 exchange rate). One hour after the robbers departed, the shift changed and the new staff discovered the crime and alerted the police. Police

forensic Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

investigators recovered a bloody

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfa ...

that was traced to Valerio Viccei. After a period of

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

, several of his accomplices were arrested during a series of coordinated raids on 12 August 1987 and later were convicted of the crime. Viccei, however, fled to Latin America for some time. Later, when he returned to England to retrieve and ship his

Ferrari Testarossa The Ferrari Testarossa (Type F110) is a 12-cylinder mid-engine sports car manufactured by Ferrari, which went into production in 1984 as the successor to the Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer. The Pininfarina-designed car was originally produced from ...

to Latin America, police arrested him. Viccei was sentenced to 22 years, serving his sentence in

Parkhurst Prison HM Prison Parkhurst is a Category B men's prison located in Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight, and is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Parkhurst prison is one of two former separate prisons that today make up HMP Isle of Wight, the othe ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

. While serving his sentence there, he forged a friendship with Dick Leach, a

Flying Squad The Flying Squad is a branch of the Serious and Organised Crime Command within London's Metropolitan Police Service. It is also known as the Robbery Squad, Specialist Crime Directorate 7, SC&O7 and SO7. It is nicknamed The Sweeney, an abbrevia ...

officer who led his arrest. They regularly wrote letters to each other, referring to themselves as

Fred Fred or FRED may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Fred ...

(Leach) and

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis (cartoonist), Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976 (later changed to ''Garfield'' in 1977), then in nationwide Print syndication, syndication from 1978, it chro ...

or The Wolf (Viccei). In 1992, he was deported to Italy to serve the rest of his sentence. He was incarcerated in an open jail in

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

, where he was allowed to live a lifestyle he was already accustomed to, as well as running a translation company.Wolf's last stand
''The Guardian'', 20 April 2000. On 19 April 2000, during day release from prison, a gunfight broke out between Viccei, an accomplice, and the police, resulting in Viccei's death. Two autobiographies of Viccei's life have been published, titled ''Too Fast to Live'' (1992) and ''Live by the Gun, Die by the Gun'' (published posthumously in 2004).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knightsbridge Security Deposit robbery 1987 crimes in the United Kingdom 1987 in London 1980s crimes in London Bank robberies in the United Kingdom 1980s in the City of Westminster Crime in the City of Westminster Robberies in London Knightsbridge July 1987 in the United Kingdom Attacks on buildings and structures in London Attacks on buildings and structures in 1987

See also

References