Brink's-Mat robbery Brink's-Mat robbery The Brink's-Mat robbery occurred at the Heathrow International Trading Estate on 26 November 1983, with a record £26 million (today approximately £ million) worth of gold bullion, diamonds, and cash stolen from a warehouse. The bullion was the property of Johnson Matthey Bankers Ltd, which collapsed the following year after making large loans to frauds and insolvent firms. Two men were convicted, and the majority of the gold has never been recovered. Insurers Lloyd's of London paid out for the losses. Several deaths have been linked to the case, and there are links to the Hatton Garden safe
Brink's-Mat robbery never been recovered and the other four robbers were never convicted. In 1996 about half of the gold, the portion which had been smelted, was thought to have found its way back into the legitimate gold market, including the reserves of the true owners, Johnson Matthey. According to the BBC, some have claimed that anyone wearing gold jewellery bought in the UK after 1983 is probably wearing Brink's-Mat. On 21 December 1983, less than four weeks after the robbery, police in Austria arrested five men – four Italians and an Austrian – at a Vienna hotel. Police also recovered ten