Thrilling – The 7 Biggest Bank Robberies of All Time

Are you captivated by the thrill of robbery? It is interesting—how people pull out these robberies and what happens afterward. While movies and TV shows surely do give an account of bank robberies in the most entertaining manner, they are most often far away from reality.

Robbing a bank, while it looks thrilling, is certainly not an easy job. Let’s discuss the top 7 biggest bank robberies of all time, including whether the accused were caught or not. So, get ready for some thrilling stories! We hope you are as excited as we are.

The 7 Biggest Bank Robberies In The History:

1. Central Bank of Iraq Robbery

Stolen: Over $920 million (£687.5 million)

On March 18, 2003, at 4 a.m. local time, three trucks left the Central Bank of Iraq. Nearly $1 billion, or a full quarter of the nation’s currency reserves, were in their cargo. Qusay Hussein, the son of Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein, commanded a group that stole the wealth. It’s reasonable to conclude that Qusay didn’t quite get away from the heist.

A few months later, the apparent heir to the Ba’athist regime was killed in a gunfight with members of the Special Forces and the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army. However, a sizable portion of the money was never found again.

Leaked documents and interviews with over a dozen officials, businesspeople, and bankers with in-depth knowledge of the case suggest that a heist of this magnitude could only have happened with the knowledge of a wider range of institutions, such as the prime minister’s office, the bank that cleared the withdrawals, the integrity commission, and the central bank. The Iraqis have quite rightly called it “the heist of the century” and one of the biggest bank heists ever.

2. The Dar Es Salaam Bank Heist – Iraq

Stolen: $282 million (£211.5 million)

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According to Guinness World Records, the biggest bank heist occurred on July 11, 2007, at the Dar es Salaam Investment Bank in Baghdad, Iraq. Two, or maybe three, depending on the source, of the bank’s security guards were involved in the theft, which was allegedly an inside job.

The robbers fled with 220 million Iraqi dinars (worth around $173,000) and $282 million in US dollars. The resources and reach of the Iraqi police were severely limited because this incident occurred during the Iraqi Civil War, and it doesn’t appear that anyone has ever been charged.

The guards were probably affiliated with or employed by one of the sectarian militias that were in operation in Baghdad at the time. The 2007 Dar Es Salaam Bank heist is still a mystery. The details of the incident remain mostly unknown.

3. The Knightsbridge Security Deposit Robbery – England

Stolen: $97 million (£72.75 million)

In 1987, Valerio Viccei—who was already on the wanted list in Italy for over 50 armed robberies—came dangerously close to committing a perfect crime in London. Valerio and his accomplice broke into a bank and took almost $100 million. They entered a bank and requested to rent a safe deposit box. After entering the vault, they brandished their weapons, overpowered the guards and bank manager, and closed the door.

After leaving with a few buddies, Viccei broke into as many safe deposit boxes as he could and stole items and millions of dollars. However, he committed one error, which is how he was discovered. When the shift changed one hour after the robbery, the new employees learned of the crime.

They called the police, and forensic experts found a blood fingerprint that linked Valerio to the incident. When he decided to go back to England from Latin America, the police detained him by obstructing the road and breaking the front window of his vehicle. This heist remains one of the most daring bank heists in history.

Also Check: 15 Unknown Facts About Money Heist

4. The Securitas Depot Robbery – England

Amount Stolen: $83 million (£62.25 million)

The western Kent town of Tonbridge was not the type of place to keep police on the edge of their seats in suspense. However, a call that was placed in the early hours of February 22, 2006, shocked not only local law enforcement but the entire country as well.

When Kent Police arrived at a run-down Securitas vault next to the Tonbridge train station, they discovered that the biggest bank heist in UK history had just been pulled off, stealing 53 million pounds and that the offenders had vanished. The depot manager, together with his spouse and their small child, were abducted by a group of masked men. The manager was then coerced into opening the depot.

It’s pretty freaking amazing that someone can hold more than 14 hostages for more than an hour and escape with around $83 million in cash. After living it out in the West Indies with the largest amount of the stolen money, the major heist player wasn’t arrested until 2010, over 4 years later. This is one of the most successful heists in recent history.

5. The Banco Central Burglary – Brazil

Stolen: $71.6 million (£53.7 million)

One of the most infamous and audacious heists in criminal history is the Banco Central burglary. The thieves made their escape with $70 million in Brazilian currency after breaking into the Banco Central vault in Brazil using a tunnel. They excavated a 256-foot tunnel over three months, passing directly beneath the bank’s vault and under a municipal street.

The master thieves’ gang executed their plan throughout the weekend of August 6-7, 2005. They began removing the money kept in the vault by breaking through the concrete floor and getting past the bank’s security systems.

Following the heist, the police opened an investigation and found and arrested a number of the robbers, including Marcos Antonio Goncalves, the mastermind of the operation. He received a 20-year prison sentence for his involvement in the robbery.

The police also found the crew’s hiding place, complete with intricate blueprints for the tunnel and bank. This led some people to speculate that the theft might have been an inside job. This largest bank robbery is considered ‘almost’ one of the most successful heists.

6. The Brink’s-Mat Burglary – England

Stolen: $26 million (£19 million)

Six men in a van was where it all started. Six armed men broke into the Brink’s-Mat depot at London’s Heathrow Airport on November 26, 1983, with the expectation of finding one million pounds worth of foreign currency. Rather, they discovered around £26 million worth of gold bullion.

It was the biggest heist in history at the time, and it fundamentally altered British law enforcement. Brian Robinson was the brains behind the crime and received a 25-year prison sentence for his involvement in the theft. Several other circumstances, such as errors made in the robbery’s planning and execution, informant tips to the police, and forensic evidence connecting the suspects to the crime, also contributed to the eventual arrest of the culprits.

A drama “Gold” (2023-2034) on BBC One starring Hugh Bonneville, Jack Lowden, Dominic Cooper, Charlotte Spencer, and Tom Cullen has dramatized the case.

7. The Northern Bank Robbery – Northern Ireland

Stolen: $41 million (£30.75 million)

The Northern Bank robbery occurred on December 20, 2004, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Despite a massive international police investigation, the mystery behind the heist is still unexplained. A group of three masked guys kidnapped two cash clerks from Northern Bank and held their families at gunpoint in a carefully organized operation.

The two key holders, who had access to the cash vault in the bank’s basement, were made to report for duty while the gang held the workers’ parents, siblings, and girlfriends captive for a full day. After that, the group had unrestricted access to the bank and stole £26.5 million in cash.

There has only been one arrest for money laundering so far, and the case is still yet to be resolved. This remains one of the largest bank robbery cases in recent memory.

Conclusion:

While robbers are glorified in movies and TV shows, the reality is much darker. Robbing a bank is not easy, and even if one somehow does empty the bank, it is rare to steal at such a profound level and not get caught. This list gets into the top 7 biggest bank robberies of all time and uncovers some of the darkest stories. It shows the lengths that people can go to extract wealth and what the potential repercussions could be, with the obvious one being rotting in prison for the rest of your life.

Also Check: The 9 Best Heist Movies You Must Watch

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