19 Huge Heists, Ranked

In December 1978, a group of thieves stole $5.88 million in cash and jewelry from a cargo hangar at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The photo shows investigators.

The stolen cash and jewelry from the robbery were never recovered. The robbery is the subject of Hollywood films "Goodfellas" and "The Big Heist."

Members of New York's Bonnano and Lucchese crime families are long believed to have been behind the robbery. Vincent "Vinnie" Asaro and his son pleaded not guilty to charges related to the heist following their 2014 arrest.

In late 2002, thieves stole $12 million worth of diamonds from the Museum in The Hague. The museum is pictured.

The burglars were never caught, and the diamonds have never been recovered. 

In 2007, a man believed to be disguised as a diamond trader stole $28 million worth of precious stones from ABN Amro bank from the diamond quarter in Belgium.

Eliser Mishali was later arrested in Frankfurt in connection with the crime, but it's unknown whether he was ever convicted.

In March 1972, the Dinsio crew, led by Amil Dinsio, robbed the safety deposit vault — and its $30 million contents — at the United California Bank in Laguna Niguel, Calif.

According to the Orange County Register, seven of the eight men involved were arrested and later convicted. The getaway driver, Harry Barber, escaped. He settled in Pennsylvania before he was arrested in 1980. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

In August, 2005, a group of burglars tunneled their way into the vault at Banco Central in Fortaleza in Ceará, Brazil. The thieves ended up stealing $48 million in uninsured money.

Five men allegedly involved in the incident were arrested with about $5.4 million of the stolen cash on Sept. 28, 2005. The ringleader, Jussivan Antonio Alves dos Santos, was sentenced to 80 years in prison.

On Feb. 18, 2013, eight gunmen using police vehicles stole diamonds valued at $50 million from a Helvetic Airways plane at the Brussels Airport in Belgium.

The entire operation took five minutes, and no one was hurt. In May 2013, 31 people were arrested for allegedly playing a part in the burglary. Their trials have been delayed while the alleged ringleader, Marc Bertoldi, completes an eight-year prison sentence.

On Aug. 6, 2009, a pair of men, posing as customers, stole $65 million worth of jewelry from Graff Diamonds shop on New Bond Street in London. The two thieves used a professional makeup artist to alter their skin tones in the theft.

In February 2005, seven people stole diamonds and jewelry worth $72 million during a robbery of a KLM armored vehicle at the Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.

In 2017, seven Dutch nationals were arrested in connection with the robbery. Most of the stolen diamonds remain unrecovered.

The leader of the gang, Leonardo Notarbartolo, was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but he has since been released, according to reports.

On Feb. 21, 2006, a group of six people stole $75 million worth of banknotes from the Securitas cash management depot in Tonbridge, Kent.

It's the largest cash robbery in British history.

In 2008, five men were found guilty of the crime. Only $150,000 of the stolen cash has been recovered.

On July 12, 1987, two men gained access to the Knightsbridge Safety Deposit Centre vault in Westminster, London. The thieves stole $98 million from safety deposit boxes.

A few weeks later, investigators linked a bloody fingerprint to Valerio Viccei, and he his accomplices were arrested. Viccei was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

Pictured, Detective Constable Steve Ashcroft holds the 'Flick' diamond, cash, jewelry and a handgun that were recovered

On Dec. 9, 2008, criminals stole $99 million from a Harry Winston jewelry store in Paris.

Dubbed the Pink Panther robbers, the diamond thieves, who were dressed as women, are responsible for stealing up to $500 million in gold and diamonds.

In 2015, eight men were convicted of the robbery. Many of the stolen goods haven’t been found.

In February 2003, Leonardo Notarbartolo and a group of four cohorts stole diamonds, gold and jewelry valued at $100 million from the Antwerp Diamond Centre in Belgium.

Dubbed "the heist of the century," the story behind the robbery is expected to be turned into a movie.

Notarbartolo was arrested after he was linked to the incident by a partially eaten salami sandwich found near the crime scene. He was later sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In February 2016, hackers attempted to steal $951 million from Bangladesh Central Bank’s account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Thirty transactions were flagged, but five of those — worth $101 million — were granted.

Investigators have linked Dridex malware, used by Russian and European hackers, to the theft.

On July 28, 2013, a lone thief stole jewels valued at $136 million from the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in Cannes, France.

The crime took about one minute from start to finish, and the perpetrator was never apprehended.

In January 1976, eight armed men stole gold worth $210 million from the British Bank of the Middle East in Beirut.

None of the money has been recovered, and no one has ever been charged for the crime.

The men used grenades and plastic explosives to blast their way through to the bank’s vault.

On July 11, 2007, three thieves dressed as bank guards stole $282 million from the Dar Es Salaam Bank in Baghdad.

According to police, bank workers showed up in the morning only to realize the front door was open and the money was gone.

It's believed to be the largest theft in Iraq since the 2003 battle to topple Saddam Hussein.

It’s unknown whether the thieves (not pictured) were ever caught.

Up to $284.58 million was stolen from the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company in April 2015. The heist is dubbed the largest in English legal history. 

A month after the robbery, four elderly men were arrested and subsequently pleaded guilty in connection with the burglary.

In the early hours of March 18, 1990, a pair of thieves stole art valued at $500 million from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

The pair of thieves posed as police officers responding to a disturbance call. Once they gained access, the two tied up the guards and stole the 13 pieces of art.

Despite multiple investigations, no arrests have been made and none of the artwork has been recovered.

In 2003, nearly $1 billion was stolen from the Central Bank of Iraq in Baghdad. It was later revealed that a handwritten note, signed by Saddam Hussein, ordered the bank to give his son, Qusay Hussein, $920 million.

Qusay Hussein withdrew the large sum of money hours before the United States started bombing, according to the U.S. State Department.

Qusay was later killed by the U.S. military, and the money was never fully recovered.