Hairspray and magnets outwit Medici Bank!

Read Time:11 Minute, 39 Second

By William Van Zyl (2021)

A can of hairspray made a clanking sound as the small glass ball mixed the sticky liquid in the canister. Jules Bartolnoro lowered himself slowly; he covered the can with his right hand – cupping his hand over his pocket – as he held on to the rope. At 12:16 am, the two men were abseiling off the roof of a four-story building in Venice. The Medici Bank of Venice was located in the business centre of the city – it was quiet in the street behind the bank. Bartolnoro was attempting to silence the sharp sound that came from the hairspray canister. He looked over his shoulder to his friend Olaf Janssens – abseiling next to him. Janssens had a small black duffle bag hanging below him – tied with a rope to his waist. He, too, was suspended from a rope hanging about a metre away. Bartolnoro had a backpack strapped to his back. Black balaclavas and dark coloured clothes concealed their identities. In the dark shadows, they blended in perfectly.

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In Olaf’s left trousers’ pocket were a couple of magnets – clumped together. His black jeans had 4 pockets in total. In his trousers’ remaining pockets were a small notebook with sketches and diagrams, an android mobile phone, a roll of masking tape, a roll of insulation tape, small scissors, a torch, a short piece of string, a pocket knife, blue tack, a couple of sheets of black cardboard and white polystyrene. Jules’ tools were a simple map of the bank – sketched in pencil – in his notebook, a couple of codes written on a piece of cardboard, a long piece of wire folded up several times, a couple of magnets, a torch, a long-nosed pair of pliers, 2 screwdrivers, a magnifying glass, and a pair of rubber gloves.

A pistol and a sawn-off shotgun were sitting proudly in holsters strapped around their chests – neatly covered with black baggy jackets. Every stud and button on their clothing were painted with matt black acrylic paint – fully camouflaged.

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The unique vault key, hanging just around the corner of the vault, turned in the cold metal door. The code followed accurately on the keypad as the combination wheel clicked and clicked. A loose magnet was placed on the fixed magnet on the wall next to the door – they were instant friends. The large, heavy door slowly swung open. They held their breaths – not a squeak of an alarm was heard. Finally, they were inside the vault. Rows and rows of safety boxes stared at them – holding their breaths. Which ones would be first? Which ones should they pry open? They played ‘pick a box.’

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The next day, the tabloids spilt the headlines in bold letters on the front pages of every newspaper and every screen. The news rolled over the large and small screens of the world – billions of them.

Breaking news:

Hairspray and magnets outwit Medici Bank!

How could $ 50 worth of hairspray, polystyrene, tape, black plastic and magnets beat a million-dollar security system? The question was on everyone’s lips.

The security boxes in the bank’s belly – 75 lockable brass boxes in total – were raided on Thursday night, 23 April 2016. There was a rumble. The valuables – jewellery, diamonds, gold, watches, and several Fabergé eggs were missing. The estimated loss? A staggering 60 million dollars worth of personal belongings were taken in the heist. How could such a simple plan outwit the bank’s sophisticated security system?

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When Bartolnoro and his accomplice pressed the buzzer on the steel grate – at the bank’s entrance – a guard upstairs glanced at the video feed, recognized Bartolnoro and Janssens, and remotely unlocked the steel grate. They posed as regular diamond dealers and have made friends with the security personnel at the bank. After a while, the security guard opened the vault’s door. Bartolnoro and Janssens stepped inside the vault with a small bag – supposedly filled with valuable diamonds. After all, they were trusted customers of the bank. For 2 years the two men established this routine at the bank and built a strong rapport with the security personnel. Trust was established.

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The vault was not patrolled; the bank officials believed that the security system was impenetrable. A huge mistake. It allowed the thieves to work at their leisure, picking and choosing what they wanted. How did they get the code for the vault? Was it an inside job? How did the men know the bank and the system so well?

There are very simple answers to those questions indeed. After investigation, it was found that Bartolnoro had a security box in the vault. He posed as a diamond dealer, visiting the bank regularly. During his 2 years as a bank client – moving in and out of the vault to secure his diamonds – he studied the security system. Both men posed as dealers and made regular deposits to the bank. During their 2 years as bank clients – moving in and out of the vault to secure their diamonds – they studied the security systems meticulously. They also made friends with one of the security guards. A pen camera – neatly sitting in Bartolnoro’s upper shirt pocket – collected all the details.

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But, how did they get in? Simply by using a rope and hook. They entered the building by climbing up onto a balcony. From the second floor, they knew their way to the basement of the bank where the vault was located. They had 2 years of exploration behind them, plus accurate maps in their notebooks. The two masters came prepared. They have practised painstakingly, and religiously, week after week. They included sessions in the dark. They had a mock-up vault, hidden out of sight. The light sensor, located in the vault, would be unforgiving to a torch. The alarms would ring relentlessly if activated by any light source.

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After the shocking news release, many of the owners of the precious jewellery, diamonds, and Fabergé eggs were assembling in front of the bank. Just after 2:00 pm, on the day of their loss. The fuming owners demanded to see their security boxes in the bank’s basement. They demanded answers. How many of them had lost their treasures?

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How were the culprits apprehended? The thieves made a simple mistake. No fingerprints, no DNA, nothing was left behind on the crime scene. They were very thorough in their methods; simplicity and ingenuity paid off.

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A lady that loved watching movies and reading about solving murder mysteries saw the technical sketches of the vault’s combination wheel and the magnets on the side of the vault’s door in the local newspaper. She phoned the police 3 days after the heist.

“Police officer, this may sound a bit strange, but I have an uneasy feeling about 2 men that rented an apartment from me for the last 3 months,” she said.

She continued, “About 2 weeks ago, one of the men came to the reception to pay his rent. I mixed up the rent dates on my computer, and he leaned over to see the screen. At that moment, as he leaned over my desk, several of my drawing pins and paperclips stuck to his trousers’ pocket. He laughed and said, “It’s my fridge magnet.” He then pulled the drawing pins and the paperclips off his trousers and placed it back in the small container which was situated close to the edge of my desk.”

‘Are the two men still renting?” asked the police officer.

“No, they rented for about 3 months and left a day after the heist. Could that be a coincidence? I must admit that I watch way too many murder stories; I don’t want to waste your time,” she laughed.

To make a short story long, surveillance footage from the lady’s reception area proved invaluable. The forensic team zoomed in and out meticulously. They were able to determine the shape and measurements of the magnet in the pocket of the tenant. It matched the shape and size of the magnet found on the crime scene. The thieves had to leave the magnets when they fled the bank. The alarms would go off if they had removed the magnet from the vault’s door.

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The chief inspector on the case placed the magnet in his trousers pocket and enacted the mystery tenant’s movements at Mrs Lucy Oppenheimer’s reception desk. A total of 5 drawing pins and 6 paperclips clung to the notorious magnet in the officer’s pocket. The pattern and position of the pins and clips matched the surveillance footage. They had a perfect match!

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They had to find the men. Identikits were distributed.

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“Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention, Mr Bartolnoro wore his fringe in a large swirl curving to the right – called a quiff. As a woman that loves beautiful hairstyles, I knew that the tenant had to use a strong hair mouse or hairspray to keep his curl in position all day long.”

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The two suspects were apprehended in a campervan in a small park in Venice. No evidence was found in the campervan or on the two men. Fortunately, the hairspray of Bartolnoro matched the sticky layers on many of the sensors in the bank.

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The two convicted men are serving 6 years of jail time in a Venice prison. The valuables were never recovered. It is believed that the men buried the treasure somewhere in the small park. However, a couple of treasure hunts did not reveal anything. Where could it be?

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They entered the vault area in the pitch dark. How did they see? They could not switch on a light, because the light sensor alarm would go off. Were they practicing – in the dark? They covered the sensors with a combination of tape, black bags, polystyrene, and hairspray on their way in. Ingenious! Once they were done – meticulously executing the disabling of the sensors inside and outside the vault – they were able to safely switch on the lights in the vault. See the author’s sketch for details. Note that a second door – a locked steel grate – was behind the large vault door. They needed 2 keys. One was hanging against the wall in the adjacent room – for the main door. Did they pick the grate door lock? Or, did they have copy made? They could not drill or hammer the vault door, the built-in vibration detector in the door would be triggered. They had to dodge security cameras, light sensors, as well as heat and motion sensors. On top of that, they also had to disable the magnet sensor installed to the top right of the door and wall. They also had to get through the second layer of security. They needed the code to a keypad installed against the wall next to the heavy vault door.

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It is well-known that when you purchase L’Oréal hairspray in Venice, people will occasionally ask – tongue in cheek – ‘Do you want to rob a bank?’

When people in Venice see Men with hair-sprayed hair – wearing a quiff style – they would refer to them as having a bank-robbers hairstyle.

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The two men will be released in 2022.

END OF THE SHORT STORY.