GREAT ROBBERIES
Added on: 10th Jul 2015
UNITED CALIFORNIA BANK ROBBERY
The United California Bank burglary took place on 24 March 1972,
when the safe deposit vault at United California Bank in Laguna Niguel,
California, was broken into and looted by professional burglars led by
Amil Dinsio. While the burglary itself was executed perfectly, the thieves
made the mistake of perpetrating a similar crime back in Ohio a few
months later which eventually led to their arrest.
MILLENNIUM DOME RAID
The Millennium Dome raid was an attempted robbery of the Millennium
Dome’s diamond exhibition in Greenwich, South East London occurring
on November 7, 2000. A local gang including Lee Wenham, Raymond
Betson and William Cockram had planned to ram-raid the De Beers
diamond exhibition which was being held in the dome at the time
and then escape via the Thames in a speedboat. The attempted
robbery was foiled by the Flying Squad of the Metropolitan Police
Service, who already had the gang members under surveillance for their
suspected roles in a number of unsuccessful armoured vehicle
robberies which had taken place.
DAR ES SALAAM BANK ROBBERY
On the morning of July 13, 2007, employees at the Dar Es Salaam Bank
in Baghdad were surprised to see that the bank had been ransacked
and completely laid bare. Three security guards made off with over
$282 million from its vaults. Following the raid officials were relatively
quiet and unwilling to answer questions so not much more is known
about the heist except that the guards must have had connections
to local militias in order to get the loot passed so many check points.
SMBC LONDON ROBBERY
A network of offshore accounts had been prepared, passwords and
matching account details secretly intercepted. Using the stolen information,
a team of foreign hackers smuggled into the bank dispatched
payment orders to every corner of the globe. Had the international
gang succeeded in siphoning £229m out of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking
Corporation (SMBC), they would have pulled off the largest robbery in
British criminal history. The elaborate operation almost outwitted
security systems on the Swift (Society For Worldwide Interbank Financial
Telecommunication) payments mechanism. But unfortunately for the gang,
some of the electronic forms had been filled in incorrectly.
GARDNER MUSEUM ROBBERY
In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990 – as the city was preoccupied
with Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations – a pair of thieves disguised
themselves as Boston police officers, gained entry to the Isabella Stewart
Gardner Museum, and stole thirteen works of art. The stolen artworks
have not yet been returned to the museum. However, the investigation
remains an open, active case and leads are investigated by the museum
and the FBI. An offer of a reward from the Gardner Museum of up to
$5 million for information leading to the recovery of the stolen
artwork remains open.
CITY BONDS ROBBERY
At 9.30am on 2 May 1990, John Goddard, a 58-year-old messenger
with money broker Sheppards, was mugged at knifepoint on a quiet
side street in the City of London. Mr Goddard was taking Bank of
England Treasury bills and certificates of deposit from banks and
building societies. The bonds were in bearer form and as good as
cash to anyone holding them. The mugger escaped with 301
Treasury bills and certificates of deposit, mostly for £1 million each.
City of London police and the FBI infiltrated the gang involved in
laundering the bonds. The police recovered all but two of the
301 bonds thanks to an informant.
CENTRAL BANK OF IRAQ ROBBERY
On the day before the bombing of Iraq by coalition forces on March 19,
2003, Saddam Hussein sent his son, Qusay, to make a withdrawal from
the Central Bank of Iraq with the help of a note, thinking that he owns
the bank. The process was simple, and bank personnel consented to
the request because of fear. The 5-hour withdrawal period summed over
$100 bills that amounted to over $1 billion.
STEPHANE BREITWIESER
Although for some time Saddam’s scheme was one of the largest
heists in history, he was toppled by a waiter named Stephane Breitwieser,
a certified art collector and now thief. although he is not known for any
single heist (ok, so direct comparisons to Saddam may not be so relevant),
ever since he began stealing paintings and other works of art in March
1995 he successfully made off with over 239 pieces from over 172 museums
worldwide, gaining a total of over $1.2 billion before being caught
in November of 2011.
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