On July 19, 1976, the Société Générale in Nice was the victim of a heist that marked the history of the Azurean capital, as well as France.
46 years ago, Nice awoke in shock upon learning about the disappearance of nearly 46 million francs (equivalent to 29 million euros) from the vault of the Société Générale located on Jean Médecin Avenue. Upon opening the vault, a message intended to taunt the authorities and the bank management was found written on a note left at the scene: “No gunfire, no violence, no hate”.
A team of 15 criminals, who first went through the sewers and then an 8-meter gallery they had previously hand-dug over three months, were behind this sensational coup.
Leading this band of thieves was a man from Nice who saw himself in the limelight, Albert Spaggiari. Arrested in Nice in October 1976, he escaped the following year from the investigating judge’s office by jumping out the window. He was nevertheless sentenced to life in absentia but died without ever being recaptured.
In a book titled “The Truth About the Nice Heist”, published in 2010, a man claimed to be the real mastermind behind the heist. Several years later, the author’s identity was revealed to be a figure from the Marseille underworld, Jacques Cassandri. Although the statute of limitations for the crimes had expired, Cassandri still found himself in the defendant’s box and was sentenced to 30 months in prison for money laundering. He headed a considerable estate made up of numerous businesses and real estate, exploited through his family while he was banned from banking in 1976.
The loot was never recovered, and several areas of the case remain to be clarified.
