Nearly three decades after fake roadworkers stole $2.3m from an Armaguard van in an audacious daylight heist the man behind the infamous crime has been jailed for 14 years.
Pasquale “Percy” Lanciana is the only man who has been found guilty of the infamous “Richmond road gang robbery” in June 1994.
“The planning and sophistication of this armed robbery might lend itself to comparisons to Hollywood movies,” Judge Michael O’Connell said in his sentencing remarks on Friday.
“But … the reality is quite different,” he said.
The crime had a profound impact on three guards in the van with each suffering “immeasurably”, the judge said.
Five robbers disguised as a road workers blocked the Armaguard van carrying millions in cash from the Reserve Bank to a depot at Carrum Downs shortly after 10am on June 22, 1994.
One man started up a concrete saw, another drove a ute into position to block the view of other cars and two bandits breached the back of the van using a duplicate key.
A man armed with a silver revolver forced the guards onto the floor of the vehicle before the men were handcuffed and had garbage bags put over their heads. The robbers dumped the van in a Richmond side street with the guards inside.
The cash has never been found and the notorious crime went unsolved for decades.
A jury finally found Lanciana guilty of armed robbery, false imprisonment and money laundering in May this year. It was the second time he faced trial for the crime after the first ended in a hung jury.
Prosecutors successfully argued the former champion kickboxer either organised or participated in the robbery – or both.
A star witness – who cannot be identified – covertly recorded Lanciana saying he was responsible.
“I didn’t do the robbery, I just organised it,” he said in 2014.
But Judge O’Connell said he was satisfied Lanciana’s role was “significant” and the suggestion he was an unseen participant in a lesser role was “unrealistic if not fanciful”.
In sentencing Lanciana, the judge labelled it an audacious and brazen armed robbery.
“This was a criminal enterprise that required meticulous planning, preparation and military-style precision,” Judge O’Connell said.
He also took into account the convicted armed robber’s mental health and mentoring of young people while he was on remand and in the boxing ring when handing down his sentence.
Lanciana must serve at least 10 years before he is eligible for parole.
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