From the bank robbing version of Daredevil to one of the largest diamond heists ever,
we look at 8 Amazing Robberies
8.
Banco Central Caper • One of the biggest problems with trying
to tunnel into a bank is what do you do will all that dirt?
• Well the thieves in the Banco Central Caper had the brightest idea, set up a fake
landscaping business.
Transporting the dirt away, the group were able to build a sophisticated 250 foot long
tunnel right into the bank vault.
• Hell the thing even had lights and ventilation.
It did take the group three months but considering they walked away with $165 million, not a
bad pay day for little bit of hard labor.
Most of the gang is still at large and only a few million has been recovered.
7.
Santa Robbery • You can’t trust anyone these days, especially
not someone dressed up as Santa because damnit he’s packin’ heat.
• Well when we say these days we really mean 1927.
See this Texan Santa spent the day talking to children on the street before he and three
other armed men held up the First National Bank of Cisco.
• After being spotted by a child, Santa and his elves took two little girls hostage
and fled the scene.
Luckily the girls were later found unharmed and Santa was locked up.
However the general townsfolk didn’t like that idea and decided to form a lynch mob
and executed him.
This should be the actual plot for Bad Santa 2.
6.
Hillbilly Heist • Believe it or not but one of the largest
heists in US history was referred to by the media as the Hillbilly Heist.
• The Loomis Fargo robbery got this title because the mastermind was...well…a Hillbilly.
So how did this guy pull it off?
Well vault supervisor David Ghantt worked out “hey this place is understaffed and
I have all the keys to take the money”.
And he did, taking $17.3 million at his own leisure before fleeing to Mexico.
• David only got caught because his accomplices were dumber than him, spending large amounts
of cash within days after.
They bought a $600,000 mansion, a new BMW and a velvet painting of Elvis.
Yeah when you go from living in a mobile home to a mansion, people are gonna start asking
questions.
5.
Brian Douglas Wells • If you somehow crossed Saw with Dog Day
Afternoon, then you’d probably end up with something a lot like this true crime.
• Brian Douglas Wells, a pizza delivery man, walks into a local bank with something
the size of a shoe box under his t shirt.
He hands a note to the teller saying he has a bomb and to hand over $25000.
Leaving after collecting only $8000, he’s stopped by police and tells them he has a
bomb strapped to his neck but shortly after it explodes…killing him.
• Police find a series of instructions in his car telling him to follow a scavenger
hunt style route to find keys that will get the bomb off.
But as far as police can tell, Wells was never meant to complete the task, the bomb was going
to go off either way.
Eventually it was found by the courts to be a plot by local murderer Diehl-Armstrong.
4.
Saddam’s Robbery • Being a dictator has some amazing advantages,
such as being able to go to the bank and take out however much money as you want.
• Because whose gonna say no to that iron fist amirite?
Saddam Hussain did just this the day before “Operation Iraqi Freedom” began.
Sending his son down to the Central Bank of Iraq with a note saying “Give my daddy all
the money”, tellers poured out 1 billion US dollars over 5 hours.
• Of course this wasn’t from Saddam’s personal account or anything, the bank just
gave him all the money they had.
Turns out over half of it ended up being stuffed in the palace walls which is an odd place
to hide it considering you’re about to be invaded.
3.
Brinks MAT • Even when a heist goes wrong it can, it
can be a blessing in disguise…for the robbers I mean.
• One of the largest gold heists in UK history happened kinda by accident.
In 1983 a group of criminals broke into one of the most secure warehouses in England,
thinking they were taking 1 million pounds.
But what they actually found was a newly arrived deposit of gold.
3 tons worth 26 million pounds.
• They had been let in by an inside man, guard Tony Black and proceeded to pour petrol
on the other guards…threatening to set them alight if they caused trouble.
The robbers mostly got away.
Three were convicted, including Black, but the gold was never recovered.
2.
Antwerp Diamond Caper • They call this one the heist of the century
and it’s not hard to see why.
• Antwerp is to diamonds as what Las Vegas is to gambling, meaning that many criminals
have tried to get at its sweet gem filled center.
This heist too years of preparation.
With ringleader Leonardo Notarbartolo renting out an office in the building and posing as
a diamond merchant…For 3 years…
• Then when the day came, he and a crew of 4 broke through 10 walls of high tech security,
Mission Impossible style.
Making out with $100 million worth of stones.
While the criminals were caught, but the diamonds were never found…
1.
Daredevil turns bad • Turns out being blind does give you superpowers,
including the power to pull off multiple bank robberies.
• After being released from prison in 1974, blind criminal Robert Toye decided to put
some knowledge he learned in the slammer to good use.
Hearing that bank tellers were instructed to compile with demands.
He entered a branch and threatened the staff with a note written on a one eyed jack playing
card.
• Surprisingly Toye got away with the crime and managed to rob another 17 banks using
the same method.
Only getting caught because he decided to go to a discount store after one of the robberies.
According to Toye he gave a large sum of his loot to charities making him a kind of blind
Robin Hood.