Not even bonnie and Clyde or Jesse James come to mind true professionals steal large quantities of money in a systematic manner and in order to commit genuinely large-scale crimes you must be well organized and well-connected which implies that companies and politicians are among the most successful robbers in the world however one robbery stands out above the rest and you’re probably unaware of it every year over one trillion dollars is stolen from underdeveloped nations often through the use of anonymous shell companies which are opaque organizations that hide the true owner’s identities the top five biggest heists in history.
Mastermind Behind Dunbar Armored Robbery
Dunbar armored robbery the theft was mastermind by ellen pace a regional safety inspector for doom bar armored his work allowed him to inspect the company’s armored car depot thoroughly pace even devised a method of evading security cameras he also knew when the guards went on break and when the vault was left unlocked which happened frequently on friday nights when large sums of money were being moved on friday september 12 1997 pace and five of his old companions slipped into the facility avoiding or subduing the guards and slipping through the cameras unobserved.
Thanks to alan pace’s understanding of which bags contained the largest denominations the crooks were able to load millions of dollars into their van in less than half an hour he also took care of the recording equipment for the cameras which he removed the thieves then began to launder their money invisibly through property purchases and bogus businesses the crime was uncovered when one of the criminals gave one of the brokers a stack of cash with the original currency straps on it despite this only about five million dollars of the cash taken were ever found.
300 Million Yen Heist
300 million yen robbery the heist was carried out by a man acting as a police officer according to witnesses according to their claim the nihon shintaku ginkgo business planned to give Toshiba’s Fuchu manufacturing employees bonus money in December because there had been an explosion in the manager’s apartment the vehicle they were traveling in was stopped by a police officer who informed them that the vehicle could be carrying a bomb that could detonate at any time the cop looked for a bomb and set up a fake fire hinting that the car would explode at any minute because it was suspected of possessing one.
The terrified drivers got out of the car and the cop got away with the money which was worth eight hundred seventeen five 520 at the time despite the fact that police detectives gathered a substantial amount of evidence none of it was meaningful or relevant to the case no arrests were made due to the statue of limitations a lack of evidence and witnesses another unsolved bonus case from the heist was the disappearance of a tucker cross the tucker crucifix was recognized as one of the most precious 22 karat gold gems the tucker cross was on its way to be handed to queen Elizabeth ii via roadways.
Belfast Bank Heist
Belfast bank robbery the largest unsolved bank robbery in the history of the united kingdom or Europe occurred in December 2004 armed men masquerading as officers burst into the homes of two northern bank officials on a Sunday night abducted their family members and forced bank employees to obey them employees were told if they did not report to work as usual the next day their families would be murdered fearful of this they obeyed all of their commands and aided criminals in gaining access to the vault which housed all of the valuables including money they robbed the bank and stole 53 million dollars in today’s currency despite the fact that one of them was convicted of money laundering due to a lack of witnesses and evidence the case remains unsolved.
Banco Central Heist
Banco central burglary at fort Eliza on the night of Saturday august 27th at exactly 11 50 p.m 12 men in gray uniforms broke into one of sao Paulo’s most secure buildings the banco Italy’s bank branch on pallista avenue the financial and business center of brazil’s largest metropolis the robbers dug a tunnel into the bank and took five containers at 50 real notes weighing about 3.5 tons and valued at 164 million five thousand a hundred fifty dollars about 71.6 million us dollars at the 2005 exchange rate.
These criminals rented an empty house in the heart of Fortaleza barely two streets from the bank before the break-in up until the end of 2005 only eight of the 25 people suspected of being engaged in the burglary have been apprehended with our 20 million dollars recovered moreover some members of the gang are suspected of being kidnapped louis Fernando Ribeiro the alleged mastermind of the operation was assassinated by kidnappers after a ransom was paid.
Central Bank Heist
The central bank of iraq robbery looters had already struck the central bank of iraq the fortress-like facility containing much of the nation’s treasure including its foreign currency reserves when american-led forces initially reached baghdad in early april 2003. This time the mastermind was none other than saddam hussein the iraqi dictator he sent three huge trucks to the central bank the day before the iraq war began in 2003 he also sent a handwritten note to his son crusade requesting a withdrawal of approximately 1 billion dollars to keep cash out of the enemy hands the funds were put into vans and transported away.
The majority of the money was recovered in subsequent raids but the story doesn’t end there American soldiers who were tasked with counting the illicit treasure took off with hundreds of thousands of dollars for themselves and their family a total of 35 servicemen were apprehended from cunning bank thefts to the intricate mafia-backed Lufthansa heist these are the most astounding heists in recent history even if some of these heists are well known chances are you’ve never heard of the offenders and some were so well planned that the true criminals may never be found.
