What happened to Luis Fernando Ribeiro? Mastermind of Brazil Central Bank heist met a violent end
Every now and then we read about thefts ranging from jewelry to clothes being stolen in the news. But what's not that common are heists that manage to shake a nation and make waves across the world for the massive scale and sheer audacity of the perpetrators who get away with it.,
Netflix is one place where you can dive into such epic tales be it fictional or non-fictional. The details, the planning, and the execution of such gutsy acts are what make the watch so captivating and shocking. If you were in awe of the Professor in 'Money Heist' and were skeptical of such smart beings existing, then the docuseries 'The Great Robbery of Brazil's Central Bank' will have you thinking once more as it details the real-life story of a non-fictional Professor-like person who manages to steal approximately 165 million reais from the bank’s safe which at first leaving no witnesses and no evidence.
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The Netflix synopsis reads: 'A plot that puts face to face one smart group of thieves and a team of federal agents, equally intelligent and patient, who during a period of 5 years chased each other in a cat-and-mouse game. The documentary series 3 Tons, The Central Bank Burglary retells the story of the crime, the investigation, and the tragic consequences of a once seemingly perfect crime worth millions, which, nonetheless, after some time, revealed itself to be a curse'.
So read on to know a jarring fact about the brains behind the operation.
Who is Luis Fernando Ribeiro?
While many people right from security guards, to truck drivers and tunnelers, were involved in the shocking robbery, Luis Fernando Ribeiro, a drug dealer, who was one of the suspects was considered to be the mastermind behind it all. Ribeiro was hailed as the one who planned the heist that saw the $70 million theft from a branch of Brazil's Central Bank
Mastermind of Brazil Central Bank heist met a violent end
On October 20, 2005, the dead body of the alleged mastermind of the heist, Luis Fernando Ribeiro who was aged 26 at the time, was found abandoned on an isolated road near Camanducaia, around 200 miles west of Rio de Janeiro. His body was filled with holes and the marks showed that he had been violently shot seven times and additionally had handcuff-like marks indented on his wrists. Coming to the cause of his gruesome murder, a police official of Minas Gerais who identified himself only as Corporal Leonino due to fear of his won safety said, "It was definitely because of the robbery".
Family members of Ribeiro identified the bullet-riddled body on Thursday, following which details of the timeline of his death were made clear. One of the suspected leaders of the stunning robbery Mr Ribeiro had fled from Fortaleza to Saõ Paulo after the heist, which took place sometime between August 6 and August 8, according to police and media reports. He was then suspected to have been kidnapped on October 7, and although his family paid $890,000 in ransom, he was not freed.
The scandalous heist led to many officials being humiliated and a document signed by four state prosecutors and published Friday in the Rio newspaper O Globo said there were signs that police officers themselves might have been involved in the kidnapping and eventual killing of Ribeiro. "There are indications, not entirely proven, that the authors of the crime are police officers or people linked to them," the document said. Just like the heist that was sprinkled with trails of extortion, kidnappings and murders, the mastermind behind it all met his end in the same brutal manner.
'The Great Robbery Of Brazil's Central Bank' releases on March 16, 2022, only on Netflix.