How I Stole $300 Million in Rare Diamonds | Informer

This Informer was part of a syndicate of jewel thieves that hailed primarily from the Balkans. He’s been entangled in crime his whole life, including many high stake jewel heists – stealing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of uncut diamonds, jewelry and cash.

It only takes him 60 seconds to walk into a jewelry store, smash the displays with hammers and crowbars and grab all he could get his hands on.

He’d loot these diamonds at night and then sell them right back to the district during the day - describing this as the perfect continuum.

There were enemies, violence and back stabbing situations. Once, he was kidnapped, wrapped in duct tape and had his life threatened in exchange for his blueprints and keys to the city’s diamond district.

He says guys like him do not last long and was eventually caught and imprisoned for over a decade. Nowadays, the Informer has retired from crime but he misses the adrenaline, the action and the abundance of cash. He still pictures himself doing the robberies in his head and lives with no regrets, “ I lived a pretty full life, I took chances”.

Watch more form this series:

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[maximsukakov]

What makes me sad about these criminals is how they just waste their money instead of using it wisely and leave the criminal life.

[hwago]

They completely failed to cover up this guy’s voice, I know who he is. I’ve seen him working at every pizza place in New York City.

[sophiaisabelle]

These interviews are eye-opening to watch. It's interesting to see how events unfold in this narrative. There's so much more to these people than meets the eye.

[kurrimgilliard]

My thing about these videos is how do you 1) find these people? 2)motivate them to confess to their crime(s)? 3) get them to trust you with their identity?

[weaseltown]

I gotta be honest. After watching so many of these and similar documentaries I wonder how much truth there is.

[boijorzee]

The first heist he is talking about is probably the 1992 Regency Hotel heist.

[williambedford]

Had me right up until 'and then I opened the cuffs with a paperclip I found' 😂

[ryogtfq]

Should get this guy to help you guys get out of Bankruptcy🤣

[Schmobbb]

Well, once you understand where the diamonds come from and how the diamonds ended up in the EU or the US, you will actually know that he was just stealing from REAL THIEVES!

[nathangarza]

This Informer series is hella addictive.

[Nick]

I wonder how many of these stories or entire interviews are real.

[cheryl]

The Pierre hotel robbery was a January 2, 1972 robbery at The Pierre in New York City. The robbery netted $3 million (worth $27 million today), and was organized by Samuel Nalo; Robert "Bobby" Comfort, an associate of the Rochester Crime Family; and Christie "the Tic" Furnari, an associate of the Lucchese Crime Family. The heist was carried out by several of Furnari's gang burglars.[1] This robbery would later be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest, most successful hotel robbery in history. Copied from Wikipedia most definitely happened and they went to jail to.

[silverlake]

He just so happened to find a paperclip and pick the lock with it! Lol

[LeenaStark]

I had a very good friend like this dude. He was something more than a "father" to me when I was growing up.
He would show up in Lambo's, Ferrari's and cash money like you wouldnt believe. He lived like a billionaire. He was also very "generous" w/ people he liked, and he took really good care of his family; put his kids through the finest colleges, bought them homes, money in the bank etc.
He was an *adrenaline junkie* and in the end, it cost him his life.
Irony is that he was an ex-fireman and an ex-cop while he committed all his 'crimes'.
He never got caught, he was way too intelligent.
On Sept. 11, he rushed down to "Ground Zero" to help out his men & his "Engine Ladder" --- four days later, they dug him out of the rubble and the debris, crushed by steel beams, holding a woman he had apparently tried to rescue. During his 'career' as a Firefighter, he had saved countless of lives prior to transferring over to being a cop.
RIP #Lion 🌹

[kuro.hitsuji]

Why am I just discovering this series on VICE? This is so fascinating!

[IG_WindischP]

How are they verifying these people really did this stuff..

[Bronson-neog]

Does anyone believe this? Seems a bit far fetched, 'I picked the handcuf locks with a paper clip I found'

[jjw]

A successful criminal is not one who is in and out of prison for the crimes he committed.

[inactiveaccount]

Isn’t it pretty obvious this is Larry Lawton working up an exaggerated accent??? He’s the guy with a YouTube channel who openly talks about his heists and stuff

[witchcraft]

this guy has nearly lied about everything he has said in this video but it still was fun to watch