Albert Spaggiari, nicknamed Bert, was a French criminal chiefly known as the organizer of a break-in into a Societe Generale bank in Nice, France, in July 1976 that resulted in the theft of an estimated 46 million francs, none of which were ever found.
13 Facts About Albert Spaggiari
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Albert Spaggiari was born on 14 December 1932 in Laragne-Monteglin in the Hautes-Alpes to Richard and Marcelle Spaggiari.
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Albert Spaggiari's father died in 1935 and he grew up in Hyeres, where his mother ran a lingerie store.
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The military court believed that this was actually a stickup, and Spaggiari spent the next four years in jail.
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Albert Spaggiari, seemingly having had put politics behind him, then moved to Nice, France, alongside his wife, Audi.
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Information contained in the document suggests that Albert Spaggiari conducted operations on behalf of DINA.
7.
On 16 July 1976, during the long weekend of Bastille Day, when most locals were on vacation, Albert Spaggiari's gang broke into the vault.
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In 2010, Jacques Cassandri published a book, The Truth about the Nice Heist, in which he claimed responsibility for the 1976 robbery and that Albert Spaggiari only played a small part.
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Albert Spaggiari chose Jacques Peyrat, a veteran of the French Foreign Legion who belonged at the time to the National Front, as his defence attorney.
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Albert Spaggiari first denied his involvement in the break-in, then acknowledged it but claimed that he was working to fund a secret political organization named Catena that seems to have existed only in his fantasy.
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Albert Spaggiari was sentenced via a trial in absentia to life imprisonment.
12.
Albert Spaggiari is reported to have had plastic surgery to change his appearance, and to have spent probably most of the rest of his life in Argentina, visiting France clandestinely to see his mother or his wife "Audi".
13.
Albert Spaggiari's body was found by his mother in front of his home in Hyeres on 10 June 1989.