Antwerp ABN AMRO Bank Diamond Heist Suspect Sentenced November 2009

Summary: The Antwerp ABN AMRO Bank diamond heist case in criminal court in November 2009 gave a 5-year prison term to Yehuda Mishali of unknown whereabouts.

In November 2009, Antwerp's criminal court sentenced ABN AMRO Bank diamond heist prime suspect, Yehuda Mishali, in absentia to a five-year prison sentence; Antwerp's criminal court is housed within the city's Palace of Justice (Justitiepaleis; Palais de Justice), designed by British modernist architect Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside, and opened March 28, 2006, by King Albert II of Belgium; photo taken May 27, 2005: belgianchocolate, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Investigators of the Antwerp ABN AMRO Bank diamond heist March 2-5, 2007, in Belgium arrested one minor suspect April 4, 2007, in Germany and attempted to arrest the main suspect without success.

The main suspect, Carlos Hector Flomenbaum, bore an Argentine passport and, as a daily year-long customer, access outside banking hours to bank vault safe deposit boxes. Some bank employees cast Flomenbaum as coming in late March 2 and early March 5, calling out Good morning! and Good evening! and never coming back. Employees described Flomenbaum as doing everything on his own, did not know his address and never discerned him anywhere alone or in company outside the bank.

The United States government's sharing the names Eliser Mishali and Yehuda Mishali after espying the police composite sketch of Flomenbaum encouraged investigators to consider an accomplice.

Online sources in Belgium furnished the ages of two Israeli nationals, 47-year-old Eliser Mishali and 58-year-old Yehuda Mishali, from unspecified sources within the United States government.

Online news articles in Flemish and French gave Yehuda Mishali the alias of 60-year-old Mordecai Meshaly in addition to his stolen identity and passport as Flomenbaum. They had no other aliases even though the Chicago Tribune Sep. 29, 1998, had the aliases Sam Gatz and Sam Goetz for 46-year-old suspect Yehuda Mishali. Ross Rice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) spokesman, identified Mishali as a bank robber in custody in New York City and a diamond thief in Illinois.

The FBI jailed Mishali Sep. 28, 1998, for jimmying 46 diamonds worth $513,292 Sep. 13, 1996, from five Firstar Bank boxes at 30 North Michigan Avenue.

Arizona Republic online archives keep a news article from Nov. 22, 1981, about 30-year-old Yehuda Mishali of Los Angeles, California, Phoenix, Arizona, and Miami Beach, Florida.

The Arizona Republic news article listed Mishali's indictment for conspiring to transport, and transporting, 36 stolen Hitachi videotape recorders valued at $36,000 from Fairchild, New Jersey. Dominique Reyniers, porte-parole du parquet d'Anvers (Antwerp Prosecutor's spokesperson), mentioned that "Il était connu pour des faits similaires aux Etats-Unis où il a d'ailleurs été condamné." She noted that "He was known for similar deeds in the United States where, for that matter, he was sentenced" for robbing banks and stealing diamonds.

Reyniers observed, "De kans bestaat dat hij opnieuw een andere identiteit aannam en Israël ondertussen heeft verlaten heeft" ("Perhaps he took another identity and left Israel").

Nonexistent confessions, evidence and eyewitnesses prompted investigators, judges and prosecutors to proceed no further against Eliser Mishali as Antwerp ABN AMRO Bank diamond heist suspected accomplice.

March 30, June 22 and Oct. 18, 2007, qualified as correctional court dates even though the heist dates quickstarted the last recollected sightings of Yehuda Mishali. Criminal court proceedings that ran from Oct. 18, 2009, resulted in Yehuda Mishali's convictions in absentia and sentence to a five-year prison term as main perpetrator. Investigators, judges and prosecutors say that Antwerp ABN AMRO Bank diamond heist loot should be difficult to sell without Kimberley Process-certified origins outside African war zones.

Who thought of hiding places for Yehuda Mishali and took 120,000 carats of, and €9.2 million ($9.7 million) in, Antwerp ABN AMRO Bank diamond heist loot?

Politie Antwerpen (Antwerp Police) Gezocht ("Wanted") composite sketch of ABN AMRO Bank 2007 diamond heist's prime suspect, Yehuda Mishali, who posed as Carlos Hector Flomenbaum and gifted staff with chocolates prior to the March heist; distributed to media by Antwerp Prosecutor's Office

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

In November 2009, Antwerp's criminal court sentenced ABN AMRO Bank diamond heist prime suspect, Yehuda Mishali, in absentia to a five-year prison sentence; Antwerp's criminal court is housed within the city's Palace of Justice (Justitiepaleis; Palais de Justice), designed by British modernist architect Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside, and opened March 28, 2006, by King Albert II of Belgium; photo taken May 27, 2005: belgianchocolate, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/frank-wouters/15999312/

Politie Antwerpen (Antwerp Police) Gezocht ("Wanted") composite sketch of ABN AMRO Bank 2007 diamond heist's prime suspect, Yehuda Mishali, who posed as Carlos Hector Flomenbaum and gifted staff with chocolates prior to the March heist; distributed to media by Antwerp Prosecutor's Office

For further information:

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