Kriti Mehrotra
Born around the late 1960s into a gypsy traveling family, the normal life Lee Wenham witnessed growing up comprised living in a caravan alongside his family, who stole to make ends meet. They never really socialized with people outside their community or worked traditional white or blue-collar jobs in any manner, so that’s the path Lee ended up choosing for himself too. Little did he know it would eventually culminate in him being arrested for armed robbery and sentenced to 13 years in prison, only to then have his tale feature in Netflix’s ‘The Diamond Heist.’
How Did Lee Wenham Earn His Money?
Lee Wenham was admittedly merely 12 years old when he dropped out of school owing to his learning disabilities – dyslexia, in particular – following which he began going to work with his dad. As per his own accounts, the latter was a career lawbreaker who had quite a reputation as a robber, so he subsequently ended up being surrounded by crime or criminals in one way or another. This led him to ultimately follow in his father’s footsteps, but while he was “game to do anything” as a youngster, it wasn’t until he was around 15 in 1983 that he committed his first crime.
According to reports, Lee’s first theft was of a JCB, a type of multipurpose construction vehicle or mechanical excavator that has a shovel right at the front and a digging arm at the rear. From then on, he had a taste for it – the adrenaline rush, easy money, and community then pulled him further into a life of crime, resulting in him having his own MO by the time he was in his 20s. In fact, he was soon stealing cigarettes by the boxes as well as taking out cash points whenever possible, which helped him bag at least £6,000 a week, per his own account in the aforementioned show.
In other words, Lee lived a comfortable life without much care in the world throughout the 1990s, only for things to change when he realized he hadn’t earned the same respect as his father. That’s when he decided to do a big job, which initially comprised him and his handpicked crew taking out a secure van containing nearly £10 million while it was on its way to make its delivery. They seemingly failed in doing so not once but twice – in February 2000 and July 2000 – for different reasons, but they still managed to escape without any issues, only for it to further motivate Lee.
Therefore, when Lee’s father introduced him to fellow career criminal Ray Betson in July itself, who later told the small-time robber about his idea of raiding an exclusive diamond exhibition, he was in. Their target was the De Beers exhibition at the Millennium Dome, which included the 203-carat Millennium Star. Lee initially thought this job was worth £40 million, but it was actually £350 million. However, as per the deal he struck with Ray, he was allegedly only going to make £1 million for just planning it all. He had no idea they’d all be caught red-handed as the police were a step ahead of them.
Lee Wenham’s Net Worth
It was on November 7, 2000, when Lee was arrested for good, not long after which he was indicted for two different robberies owing to the evidence the Met Police had managed to gather. Apart from his role in the diamond heist, they alleged he was the mastermind in the Aylesford attempted robbery in July 2000, and the Kent native eventually ended up pleading guilty to both. Therefore, in 2002, he was sentenced to four years and nine years, respectively, for the charges against him, which were to run consecutively, with credit for time already served (a year and a half).
However, owing to the fact that Lee never once physically harmed anyone and his good behavior behind bars, he was released early after serving a total of just four and a half years in 2005. Since then, it appears as if the one-time career criminal has turned over a new leaf and stayed well away from any kind of trouble by leading a straight and narrow life with a traditional work life. In fact, he is now a full-fledged businessman with a landscaping and gardening company of his own, all the while also expanding his wings to become a public figure – he is making the most of his past for his future.
We say this because Lee has since also evolved into an author – his debut book, a memoir penned alongside Joe Cusack, ‘A Diamond Geezer: The Story Behind Britain’s Biggest Robbery,’ is scheduled to be released in May 2025. Apart from this, the former criminal is now open to sharing his story in interviews, podcasts, as well as other platforms, and he is reportedly also moving towards becoming a public speaker to help others leave the life of crime behind too. Therefore, taking into account his nearly 2-decade run as a robber (with £6,000 a week income), his life as a businessman, his plans for the future, and his assets, expenses, possible investments, returns, and liabilities, we believe Lee Wenham’s net worth to be £2 million or nearly $2.5 million.
Disclaimer: The estimated net worth above is based on publicly available clues and educated guesses. The only person who truly knows the real figure is Lee Wenham himself.
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