On 13 January 2006, many Argentineans were glued to their televisions watching intently while the events of what would be known as the ‘heist of the century’ unfolded in real time. As part of a meticulously planned theft, a band of robbers simulated a holdup gone awry in a bank’s lobby while their accomplices accessed safety deposit boxes through an underground tunnel, escaping with approximately nineteen million US dollars. Left behind was a one-sentence note that read: ‘In a neighborhood of deep pockets, without weapons or grudges, it’s just money and not loved ones.’ Since then, the thieves have been hailed as heroes, and their heist’s painstaking planning has achieved mythical proportions. The unusual background of its mastermind (born in a well-to-do family, no criminal background, and a partial university education), along with the group’s ability to trick the entire police force, have made them celebrities. Some media outlets have even dubbed them modern day Robin Hoods referencing their note, which seems to allude to economic inequality but without offering redistribution of wealth beyond the thieves’ pockets.

Media coverage and subsequent retellings of the event elevated it to the country’s most famous and celebrated heist. As a Clarín newspaper article titled ‘Río Bank: the Robbery that Turned into Legend’ claims, ‘Books, songs, countless publications on social networks and on the web turned the episode into a milestone, which is now reinforced by the reissue of Sin armas ni ladrones (Without Weapons or Thieves), the investigative book that Rodolfo Palacios dedicated to this event, the publication of El ladrón del siglo (The Thief of the Century), the memories of Luis Mario Vitette, one of the protagonists, and the brand new film directed by Ariel Winograd, El robo del siglo (The Robbery of the Century)’ (Aguirre 2020).