NetflixThe Diamond Heist is the latest documentary release from Netflix, detailing a cat and mouse chase between London police and Lee Wenham’s gang of criminals in a plot to steal £350 million worth of diamonds – including the Millennium Star.
If you’re a fan of gangster movies, chances are you’ve heard of Guy Ritchie. The filmmaker knows how to spin a good crime story. While most of his work is fictional, he’s jumped over to the documentary world for The Diamond Heist.
The case at the center of it is truly stranger-than-fiction, and plays out like an elaborate movie plot (a news presenter even compared it to a Ritchie film). The Netflix docu-series kicks off proceedings with Lee Wenham, who joined criminal Ray Betson’s plan to pull off the biggest heist in history.
In 2000, they enacted a plan to nick the £350 million diamond haul on show at the newly built Millennium Dome, unaware that the police were hot on their tail. If you’re wondering what happened to the Millennium Star, here’s where the prized diamond currently resides.
Who has the Millennium Star now?
NetflixAstteria suggests that the Millennium Star diamond is held at the New York offices of its owner, De Beers Group. However, at the end of the docu-series, text across the screen reads, “De Beers sold the gem in 2006 to an anonymous buyer. It’s rumored to be held somewhere in Asia.”
Wherever it is, it’ll be under strict security. In 2005, it was showcased again as part of a diamond exhibition at London’s Natural History Museum. However, the event was shut down three months early due to warnings of another heist attempt.
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The discovery of the diamond is explored in Episode 1 by Nir Livnat, the executive chief of Diacore Diamond Group. “In the middle of the 1990s, there was a stone that was discovered in a very remote area in Zaire, which is supposed to be the greatest stone of times,” he says.
Livnat then gets out a replica of the uncut stone, explaining that it was 777 carats, which was “extremely unusual.”
“And the amazing thing is normally when you get big diamonds, they’re only very low quality,” he continues. “But this was extremely clear. What we call ice material.”
NetflixLivnat and his team then had to get to work cutting the jewel, and when they were finished, he was convinced that they had made the most beautiful diamond in the world.
The finished product – later named the Millennium Star – is 203 carats and worth £300 million. After being bought by De Beers, the firm made the decision to make it the centerpiece of its diamond collection, to be showcased at London’s Millennium Dome when it opened.
It was a novel idea, but one that had “disaster written all over it,” as highlighted by reporter Neil Wallis. Why? Because the Millennium Dome was essentially a giant tent, and it was located in Greenwich, Southeast London.
Tim Thorn, head of De Beers security, states, “If the board had asked me, ‘Where shouldn’t we display this diamond,’ the place I would’ve said to you is Greenwich… It was a long way from De Beers in Central London. The police are not close by, as such.”
Wallis adds, “East London isn’t exactly known as being the natural home of diamonds and precious things, not least because it’s been a hotbed of crime for as long as it’s existed.”
Even so, the diamond display went ahead. But it didn’t take long for Wenham and his team to catch on and devise their plan to take the lot.
Although the police caught them, it was only by a stroke of luck that they found out about the plot. If they hadn’t, the gang would’ve gotten away with it.
However, as is revealed right at the end of the new docu-series, there was another issue with their heist.
The Diamond Heist ends with a hilarious twist
NetflixIn the final scene of The Diamond Heist, it’s revealed that the precious jewels – including the Millennium Star – were replaced with convincing replicas, just in case the police’s sting operation went wrong.
As said by Livnat, “I received a phone call from a gentleman, a director of De Beers, telling me that there’s going to be a heist in place that’s going to come down in the near future. The decision with the authorities was to make the fake.”
He then presents the Millennium Star replica, which truly does look like the real thing. “They were extremely good,” says Thorn. “You’d be very hard pressed to tell that they were replicas.”
“So, in September, two months before the raid, I made a decision, just to be safe, to swap the real diamonds with fakes.”
The camera cuts to Wenham, who announces, “Motherfu–” but he’s cut off before he can finish. That said, you can probably tell what he thinks about that decision.
The Diamond Heist is streaming on Netflix now. For more documentary news, find out where Con Mum is now, how to watch To Dye For, and check out Netflix’s upcoming Fred and Rose West docu-series.