WHO’S GOT MISSING £20M GEM RAID LOOT?

As Hatton Garden gang are convicted, police hunt Mr Big and hidden fortune

THE mystery ‘Mr Big’ who oversaw the Hatton Garden heist remains on the run as police last night admitted that up to £20million of missing loot may never be found. Seven men with a combined age of 442 face lengthy jail sentences over last year’s raid, but Scotland Yard confessed it knew ‘almost nothing’ about the shadowy figure known only as Basil.

he could hold the key to the haul of jewels, gold, watches and cash which remains ‘in the wind’ despite an international hunt.

As three of the hatton Garden gang were convicted yesterday, it can be revealed that:

Ringleader Brian Reader is the most prolific jewel thief of his generation and a lieutenant of Kenneth Noye, who laundered the Brink’s Mat gold and was once acquitted of murdering a police officer;

Terry Perkins, once branded ‘evil and ruthless’ by a judge, spent 15 years on the run after walking out of prison during his 22-year

‘Millions buried in the countryside’

sentence for masterminding the £6million 1983 Security Express cash robbery;

With half a century of crime behind them, the gang are at the centre of an extraordinary web of villains, stretching from the Kray twins to the violent Adams family syndicate;

Police privately admit their estimate of £10million of missing loot, much of which is believed to be buried in the Hertfordshire countryside, is likely to be hopelessly inaccurate and the value could be twice as much;

The ageing gang has a blood-soaked history of armed robbery, torture and kidnapping and has been jailed for more than 80 years between them.

They were held in the strictest double A category conditions at Belmarsh prison after a woman police officer was threatened and amid fears they could attempt to tamper with the jury.

Last night, the Flying Squad vowed to continue the multi-million pound investigation into the daring raid which sent shockwaves around the world. They offered a £20,000 reward for information leading to the true identity of ‘Basil’, last seen walking away from the vault with a bag full of cash.

He joined veteran criminals Perkins, 67, Reader, 76, and Danny Jones, 60, in masterminding of the extraordinary criminal caper.

Detectives admit they are struggling to estimate the true value of the raid because of the secretive world the raiders smashed open.

Although they have recovered up to £4million, it can now be revealed this is made up of the least valuable stolen items and the share of one thief, 75-year-old Kenny Collins. Police are running out of leads to trace the missing millions, most of which is believed to be ‘down a hole somewhere’.

Like the Brink’s Mat gold, police believe the jewellery remains in Britain and is probably hidden in the Hertfordshire countryside.

The big breakthrough in the case came after police spotted Collins’s £50,000 white Mercedes in the deserted diamond district over the Easter weekend last year.

Within 48 hours they were unravelling Collins’s life but it took weeks of dogged detective work to catch the ringleaders red-handed. The evidence was overwhelming and Perkins, Reader, Jones and Collins, all old friends and North London drinking partners, pleaded guilty to the burglary last September.

They face up to ten years in prison but it is possible prosecutors will threaten to keep them behind bars even longer until they reveal the location of the missing loot.

The case is likely to mirror the aftermath of the Brink’s Mat raid in which those involved faced civil claims as investigators swarmed over their financial affairs. Jones has already pretended to give back his share by taking police to a stash under a relative’s memorial stone, only for police to find more nearby.

Yesterday, three men were convicted of assisting the gang after a five-week trial at Woolwich Crown Court.

Convicted kidnapper Carl Wood, 56, and

Bethnal Green thug William Lincoln, 60, were convicted of conspiracy to commit burglary and launder the proceeds. Plumber hugh Doyle, 48, was found guilty of concealing criminal property after he offered to let the gang use his enfield workshop for storage. A fourth man, hackney cab driver Jon harbinson, 42, who was accused of transporting the goods, was cleared.

Det Chief Supt tom Manson, of Scotland Yard, said the age of the men should not diminish the danger they posed.

‘You become criminally responsible at the age of ten and you don’t get any lesser sentence just because you are 50, 60 or 80 years old,’ he said. ‘these are skilled career criminals. Many of the victims are elderly themselves, some of them lost their pension pots or family heirlooms.’

All seven men will be sentenced during a threeday hearing in March.