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From the Great Train Robbery to the Central Bank of Iraq Robbery, we count down the 10
biggest bank heists in history.
#10: The Banco Central Robbery: Some say this is the most creative bank heist in Brazil.
In a story right out of Sherlock Holmes or Scooby Doo, a group of men posed as a landscaping
business and rented a commercial property. They then dug a 256-foot long tunnel to get
underneath the bank. The tunnel was equipped with an air conditioning system and lights.
Burnt lime was also used to avoid leaving fingerprints. The robbers made off with the
2005 equivalent of $71.6 million dollars. Most of the lost money was never recovered.
#9: The Dunbar Armored Robbery: In 1997, a Dunbar security officer named Allen Pace convinced
five childhood friends to help him rob his workplace. After hiding in the staff cafeteria,
they ambushed a few security guards near a stocked vault. The gang loaded their loot
into a waiting U-Haul and reportedly made off with almost 19 million dollars. It looked
like they were going to get away with it until one of the participants got sloppy and confessed
to police. Pace was arrested and received a prison sentence of 24 years.
#8: The British Bank of the Middle East Robbery: It was a typical January day until eight armed
soldiers blasted through the walls of the bank in Beirut, Lebanon. Associated with the
Palestinian Liberation Organization, these men wanted what was inside the vault. They
used a team of locksmiths to gain access to $20 to $50 million dollars worth of gold bars,
stocks, and jewels. This took place in 1976, and the booty is now worth three times its
original value.
#7: The Great Train Robbery: Coming in at number seven, we have a story fit for a movie.
The Up Special was traveling through Buckinghamshire, England in 1963 when it was ambushed by a
group of thieves. It seems the signaling equipment had been tampered with, and that forced the
train to stop. Once it did, the gang quickly boarded. They made off with 120 bags of bank
notes. At the time, the bank notes were worth $7 million in 1963, and worth more than 50
million today.
#6: The Kent Securitas Depot Robbery: In 2006, the manager of the Securitas Depot was abducted
from his car. After he was pulled over by an unmarked police vehicle, he was handcuffed
and taken to work where employees let them inside. The robbers also took the manager’s
wife and son hostage to force him to comply. The British raid took just over an hour, and
they made out with the equivalent of $92 million dollars. Several men were later arrested.
#5: The Knightsbridge Security Deposit Robbery: This special heist took place in Knightsbridge,
England in 1987. Masterminded by an Italian named Valerio Viccei, it began under the premise
that Viccei wanted to open a safety deposit box. Once Viccei was where he wanted to be,
he had his accomplices overpower the manager and security guards with handguns. A bloody
fingerprint found at the crime scene was traced back to Viccei. He was arrested and sentenced
to 22 years in prison. At the 1987 exchange rate, the loot taken was worth roughly $98
million dollars.
#4: The Brink’s-MAT Robbery: Heathrow Airport, London. A group of men decided that 1983 was
the perfect year to steal diamonds, cash, and gold bullion. With the help of a security
guard named Anthony Black, the six robbers managed to get inside. They poured gasoline
on staff members and threatened to set them on fire if they didn’t give the vault combination.
Police later discovered that Black was related to one of the robbers, and he was arrested
with them. The lost gold has never been recovered.
#3: The Dar Es Salaam Bank Robbery: In 2007, two Baghdad bank guards decided to help themselves
to $282 million dollars and took off in the middle of the night. When the other employees
arrived the next morning, they found an open front door and an empty vault. Nobody knows
how the guards got away undetected.
#2: The Central Bank of Iraq Robbery: Saddam Hussein is allegedly the one behind this heist
that happened in 2003. Carrying a note signed by
his father, Qusay Hussein and an assistant withdrew $1 billion dollars from the bank
and loaded the money into several cars. All of this happened “just hours” before America
began bombing Iraq. It’s not completely clear where the money was taken or how it
was used.
#1: The Reichsbank Robbery: Here’s one that made it to the Guinness Book of World Records.
Open the 1996 edition and you’ll find this robbery on page 189. Writers called it “The
Greatest Robbery on Record.” Jewelry, money, and gold disappeared from a German bank at
the end of WWII. In 1984 prices, the lost treasure was estimated to be worth 2.5 billion
pounds sterling. Small amounts of it later showed up, but most of it remains missing.
Hey guys fresh here and thanks for watching my video on 10 Biggest Bank Heists in History
and thanks to Griffin Owen for the video idea! If you want a written version of this video,
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