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Arrest of geriatric Chicago gangsters raises hope of finding stolen diamond

13 April 2010 04:40 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. The arrest in Chicago of a pair of geriatric gangsters known as The General and The Genius offered hope yesterday of recovering the gems from one of Britainâ€™s biggest jewel robberies, APA reports quoting â€œTimes Onlineâ€.
The men stole jewellery then valued at Â£1.5 million, including the 45-carat Marlborough Diamond, in a raid on Graff jewellers in Knightsbridge in 1980. Three decades later the mobsters are facing charges of plotting to rob a Chicago bank.
Joseph â€œThe Generalâ€ Scalise, 73, and Arthur â€œThe Geniusâ€ Rachel, 71, â€” along with their alleged accomplice Robert Pullia, 69 â€” are accused of the attempted armed robbery of the First National Bank. The police said that the trio had been under investigation since a 2007 hold-up at a nearby bank that netted more than $100,000 (Â£65,000). They were arrested as they allegedly prepared to break into the fortress-like former home of the late Chicago mob boss, Angelo â€œThe Hookâ€ LaPietra, in the belief that a fortune was hidden inside a wall.
Officials refused to comment on speculation that the egg-shaped Marlborough Diamond might be in the house. It was believed to have been stolen on the orders of a Chicago mob boss who wanted it for his wife.
â€œThere is no official allegation that the diamond is inside, although there has been some media speculation,â€ said Randall Samborn, a spokesman for federal prosecutors in Chicago.
He refused to say whether the house, where a female relative of the late mob boss reportedly still lives, would be searched.
Scalise , once a reputed mob enforcer, is considered such an expert on bank robbery that he was hired as a consultant for the 2009 Hollywood movie Public Enemies.
Scalise is known as The General because he tucks his deformed hand into his jacket in a pose that resembles Napoleon Bonaparte.
Scalise and Rachel served 13 years in prison in Britain for robbing Graff. Their haul included the Â£400,000 Marlborough Diamond, which was the centrepiece of a necklace once owned by the late Gladys Marie, the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough, who was married to Charles â€œSunnyâ€ Spencer Churchill, a cousin of Sir Winston Churchill.
A bystander noticed the jewel thieves driving off in a green Fiat and took down the licence plate number. The number was traced to a Hertz rental car at Heathrow. The pair were arrested 12 hours later as they got off a flight in Chicago. But the Marlborough Diamond and the other gems were never found.
The FBI put the men under surveillance after DNA taken from the getaway car in the 2007 bank robbery was allegedly linked to Scalise.
Prosecutors said that the three men were seen casing the First National Bank every Thursday morning when an armoured car arrived to pick up cash.
All three suspects remain in custody pending a remand hearing on Wednesday. Mr Scaliseâ€™s lawyer said his client had told him that the charges were nonsense.