Albert Spaggiari – The heist of the century

Weekend of July 20, 1976. The sewers of Nice are put to the test by a team of highly ingenious burglars trying to break into the Société Générale bank...

Their goal?

The vault, of course!

In total, 317 safes were opened, yielding 5 billion centimes, 50 million francs at the time, 24 million euros – an astronomical sum!

Once alerted to the break-in, the police discovered the broken safes and a small note left there: "No weapons, no violence, and no hatred."

But how can one get through the sewers to the vault in the middle of the city center?

Going through the sewers, of course! The Paillon River is crossed for 1.5 km to the Exhibition Center in the east of the city. Hundreds of tools are used along the way: chisels, jacks, drills, oxygen tanks, drills... It took two and a half months of work to get into the bank, and well-planned techniques were used to avoid disturbing anyone...

However, Société Générale has just signed a contract with Fort Knox safes, which are supposed to be unbreachable...

March 10, 1977. Spaggiari is questioned by the judge at the Palace of Justice. Once again, he is well prepared, as someone is waiting for him with a motorcycle outside the judge's chambers. He glances out onto the street, creates a diversion, and jumps out of the window—8 meters. Spaggiari will never return to France and flees to South America to lead a very quiet life, between interviews and writing a book...

This is the story of the Heist of the Century!