CASINO HEIST
On the evening of February 4, 2010, the Vittoriosa seafront bore witness to an astonishing event straight out of a blockbuster movie.
Credit for content: Allied Newspapers, TimesofMalta.com
A Palace that became a casino
The Casino di Venezia, which was housed in a majestic Palazzo that used to belong to the Knights of St John, became the scene of a brazen robbery. The Palazzo had been beautifully restored and was one of the symbols of the renaissance that the area was going through. Under cover of darkness, a gang of at least five hooded and armed individuals raided the casino, making off with a hefty six-figure sum.
The daring heist took place just after 7.15 p.m. when the hooded gang walked into the casino, brandishing firearms. Later, the thieves ran off in a white Pajero which was found shortly after submerged in an inlet at the far end of the waterfront. Two anglers witnessed a group of men dump the vehicle into the sea and escape in a small white boat with a canopy. The police and the Armed Forces of Malta launched an air, land and sea search using cars, a helicopter and patrol boats but no trace of the boat was found.
CCTV footage of the heist captured by the Casino’s cameras.
A mystery that has never solved
As the search continued in various parts of the island, investigators questioned the casino’s employees and patrons and viewed the images captured by several security cameras in the building and along the waterfront. In the days immediately after the theft, the police interviewed a number of persons, but no one was arraigned. Investigators suspect that the thieves were Maltese and may have been linked to the attempted hold-up on a bank security van only a month before.
The men spoke in Maltese, and there was no hint of a foreign accent. A security guard on duty at the waterfront entrance that evening was among those questioned. These personnel usually asked those driving onto the quay for their details. Investigators also examined a wig and a scarf found inside the car that was dumped into the sea. The heist involved at least six men, four of whom entered the casino, while a fifth waited for them in the car, which had been stolen earlier in the week. Another waited on the speedboat.
The entire operation was captured by closed-circuit television cameras strategically placed both inside and outside the casino and along the waterfront. The Casino di Venezia heist stands as one of the most intriguing and baffling crimes in recent memory. No one was ever caught, and the exact amount of the haul was never disclosed, making it one of the most incredible, meticulously executed heists in Maltese history. The Casino di Venezia closed its doors for good a few years later.