Albert Spaggiari

Albert Spaggiari (14 December 1932 – 8 June 1989), nicknamed Bert, was a French criminal chiefly known as the organizer of a break-in into a Société Générale bank in Nice, France, in July 1976. Albert Spaggiari was born on 14 December 1932 in Laragne-Montéglin in the Hautes-Alpes to Richard and Marcelle (née Clément) Spaggiari. His father died in 1935 and he grew up in Hyères, where his mother ran a lingerie store. At the age of 19, he enlisted as a paratrooper in the First Indochina War, and was posted to the 3rd Battalion colonial paratroopers. During this time, he and a few accomplices put a gun to the head of someone that they claimed had robbed them. The military court, however, believed that this was actually a stickup, and Spaggiari spent the next four years in jail. Following his release, he moved to North Africa and joined the Secret Armed Organisation (OAS), a right-wing group that wanted to prevent Algerian independence. This later led him to be sentenced to three and a half more years in jail, on the charges of political terrorism. Spaggiari, seemingly having had put politics behind him, then moved to Nice, France, alongside his wife, Audi. They lived in a country villa, called The Wild Geese, where they raised chickens. Professionally, he started working as a photographer. In 1975 Albert Spaggiari and the Corsican Brotherhood (CB) were recruited in France by the Chilean secret police, DINA. His codename was "Daniel", his activities are unknown but other CB…