Bonnot Gang. Photo courtesy of Le Petit Journal. Wikimedia Commons

10 Most Famous French Robbers


 

According to statistics, the robbery rates in France have significantly decreased over the years. In 2017, the robbery rate was 154.3 cases per 100,000. This trend continued to decrease from 2003 to 2017. However, in 2020 the crime rate was at 1.35% which was an increase from 2019 which stood at 1.86%. Robbers have continued to bring about losses and grievances and at times loss of life. In French history, some of the most common crimes include burglary, vehicle break-ins, petty theft, and car theft among others. Those that are lucky enough to escape have their way while those that are caught are punishable by three years in prison or higher according to the crime. Some of the criminals are now known as they end up being jailed and others are sentenced to death. In this article, we will explore the ten most famous French Robbers.

1. Bonnot Gang

Bonnot Gang. Photo courtesy of Le Petit Journal. Wikimedia Commons

Bonnot Gang was a French criminal gang who operated in Belgium and France back in the 1910s. The members of the group identified with the illegalist milieu which used cutting–edge technology. This made them earn the name ‘The Auto Bandits’ from the media. This gang was the first in world history to carry out a motorized bank raid. Bonnet Gang made its first robbery on the 21st of December 1911in the Societe Generale bank. They shot the collection clerk and managed to steal the cash bag. They continued with the bank raids and robbed other banks by shooting the bank cashiers.

Check out: 10 Most Famous Robberies in History

2. Emile Buisson

Emile Buisson was a French criminal who lived between 19th August 1902 and 28th February 1956. He is recorded to have been involved in over one hundred robberies and thirty murder cases. He was first jailed for swindling, possession of weapons, and pickpocketing at the age of sixteen. After the jail term, he continued to steal including killing a passage on board while he was carrying out a robbery in 1941. He was committed to a psychiatric hospital where he escaped in 1947. He became a public enemy in French and was later captured and executed in 1956 by Rodger Borniche.

3. Octave Garnier

Octave Garnier. Photo author is unknown. Wikimedia Commons

Active Garnier was one of the founders of the famous Bonnot Gang. He lived between 25 December 1889 and 14th May 1912. He was born in Fontainebleau, Seine-et-Marne, and worked as a baker and a butcher in his early life. He was first arrested and imprisoned at the age of seventeen. However, he took up stealing at the early age of thirteen years. After his release from jail, he formed a gang that robbed banks and used arms. He was shot on the 14th of May 1912 after their safe house was noticed and raided by the police. They tried to keep the police from entering the safe house but the French forces managed to plant explosives in the house.

Discover 10 Most Famous Bank Robberies of All Time by clicking Here

4. Toni Musulin

Toni Musulin became famous for stealing 11.6 million Euros from the Banque de France. He was born on the 8th of June 1970. He worked in the bank of France as a security van driver and managed to steal money while he was on duty. This was on the 5th of November 2009, when he stole the van that he was driving and contained the money. Toni disabled the GPS and ran off with the van. After two days were led by the witness and were able to recover 9.1 Euros and the rest was not found. He however surrendered to the police authority on the 16th of November 2009. He was tried and sentenced to five years imprisonment but released on the 29th of September 2013.

5. Albert Spaggiari

Photo by Maxim Hopman on Unsplash

Albert Spaggiari was born on the 14th of December 1932 and died on the 8th of June 1989. He was nicknamed Bert and was the mastermind behind the break-in into Societe Generale bank located in Nile, France in July 1976. He was first jailed following an incident where he put a gun to the head of someone who they claimed had robbed. After he was released from jail he joined the Secret Armed organization. On the 16th of July 1976, Spaggiari accompanied by his gang broke into the vault and opened more than four hundred safe deposit boxes and stole an average of between 30 – 100 million francs. This was the largest heist in the history of bank robberies.

Learn with us Famous Crimes Committed in Paris

6. Jacques Mesrine

Jacques Mesrine was a famous French criminal who lived between 28th December 1936 and 2nd November 1979. He was involved in several crimes including kidnapping, burglaries, and bank robberies in France, Canada, and United States. He hit international headlines when he tried to kidnap the judge who sentenced him to jail. This was after escaping from prison. He remained wanted for a long time and was famously regarded as the man of a thousand faces. However, after years of escaping and running from one country to another, he was finally apprehended on the 2nd of November 1979. He was trapped at the port of Clignancourt on the outskirts of Paris. Twenty rounds were fired and he was struck fifteen times and died on the spot.   

7. Jeffrey Shuman

Image by Kris from Pixabay

Jeffrey Shuman is a bank robber who is commonly referred to as The Vaulter. He was born in 1962 in Los Angeles, California, United States. He is considered one of the most inventive bank robbers in Canada. He was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment after pleading guilty to the robbery of fourteen banks in the United States. He was released from prison in 2004. He left for Canada where he was involved in over twenty-one bank robberies before fleeing to France. However, in 2017 he was extradited to Canada where he was charged with robbery using firearms and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

8. Jules Joseph Bonnot

Jules Bonnot was a French bank robber who lived between 14th October 1876 and 28th April 1912. He was among the famous gang dubbed by the Fench press as ‘The Bonnot Gang’. He as much as possible tried to outwit his target and avoid bloodshed during the robbery. However, since the days of a thief a numbered, he did not live to steal the other day after his fortieth day.

 

9. Francois Marcantoni

Francois Marcantoni was a member of the French resistance and a Corsican gangster who lived between 28th May 1920 and 17th August 2010. He was involved in several bank robberies in the 1950s. He was suspected of the murder of Stevan Markovic who was a bodyguard of a film star called Alain Delon. He was put in custody for eleven months and later released for lack of evidence.

10. Etienne Monier

Etienne Monier. Photo by Alphonse Bertillon. Wikimedia Commons

Etienne Monier was a member of the Bonnot Gang and lived between 20th April 1889 and 21st April 1913. He was also called Elie Monier and nicknamed Simentoff. He refused to serve in the military in 1910 and was forced to flee abroad. He came back to France and joined the gang where he carried out several robberies. He was arrested on the 24th of April 1912, the same day Bonnot killed the vice-chief of the French police. He was sentenced to death and on the 21st of April 1913, he was guillotined together with other two members of the gang.

 Robbery has robbed many of their properties and some of their lives. However, with recent and advanced technologies, countries have managed to apprehend some of the most wanted robbers. 

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