Josh Davis (www.joshuadavis.net), son of Janet and John Niemi of Astoria, wrote a true crime tale titled “The Untold Story of the World’s Biggest Diamond Heist,” which appeared in Wired Magazine (http://tinyurl.com/wired-heist). The story of how the sophisticated heist was pulled off is told for the first time by one of the crew members, Italian Leonardo Notarbartolo, pictured above, who spoke to Davis in a prison visiting room. Convicted on circumstantial evidence, Notarbartolo was sentenced to 10 years for his part in the crime, which took place Feb. 15, 2003, in the vault of the Antwerp Diamond Center.

The thieves netted anywhere from $20 to $100 million in diamonds, gold and other goodies from safety deposit boxes in what was thought to be an impenetrable vault loaded with 10 layers of security safeguards. Nobody knows the real total of the haul because of possible insurance fraud on the part of the victims.

The big screen rights to Davis’ tale of high and low tech intrigue have been snapped up by Paramount Pictures, and J.J. Abrams will take on the project as producer and director, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Davis will executive produce.

Incidentally, Notarbartolo has recently been released from prison, having served his time. To this day, nobody knows what became of the loot