[Bank Heists]
Thieves looking to get a lot of cash
sometimes break into locked rooms
called vaults. Most of a banks cash
and other valuables are stored there.
2 Whodunnit
Introduction
e word heist comes from hoist,
which means to li. Bank thieves hope
to li a pile of cash. en they plan to
slip away, never to be found.
In the movies, these heists are oen
clever. ey are also complex. A team
of experts join up to make it happen.
A mastermind makes a plan. A
locksmith cracks the safe. A fast
driver speeds away in the getaway
car. In real life, bank heists are oen
less organized. But some thieves are
inspired by Hollywoods heists. In the
2010 movie e Town , four friends rob a
string of banks. at same year, a group
of men in New York carried out real
robberies. ey poured bleach on ATMs
to get rid of DNA . ey used headlamps
to see in the dark. When they
were caught, they told police
they got these tricks from
the movie.
Bank robbers often wear
masks to keep their hair
and face hidden.
DID YOU KNOW?
In 1995, thieves imitating the
movie
Money Train
set fire
to a subway worker's booth.
Unlike the character in the
movie, who escaped, subway
worker Harry Kaufman
died from his burns.
crack: to open illegally without
having a key or combination
DNA: the material in cells that
provides the code for physical traits
such as eye and skin color; this
information can link people to crimes
Heists
The Biggest Heists
e worlds biggest bank heist took
place in Iraq. On March 18, 2003, at
the start of the Iraq War (20032011),
President Saddam Hussein sent his son
and a close advisor with an order to the
Central Bank. ey took a lot of the
countrys money, an amount equal to
$1billion in US dollars. e bank did
not dare defy the dictator president.
So the biggest bank heist was probably
also the easiest.
In the second-biggest heist, thieves had
to work harder. e the was done by a
fake landscaping company in the spring
of 2005. e thieves set up a storefront
in the city of Fortaleza, Brazil. Loads
of dirt were trucked away each day. No
one thought much of it. is was normal work for landscapers. Two blocks
away was Banco Central. On Monday, August 8, the bank sta made a
shocking discovery. e vaults were empty. Over the weekend, the vault
had been blasted open. Behind the hole was a tunnel, feet (80 meters)
long. e tunnel led to the fake landscaping business.
e thieves had spent three months digging
it. ey made o with $69.8 million.
Instead of escaping Iraq with the
money he stole, Saddam Hussein
had to go into hiding. Eventually,
US forces captured him.
dictator: a ruler with
absolute power
BANK HEISTS
4 Whodunnit
Between 2005 and 2007, police got
back about $20million from the
landscaping heist in Brazil. ey
believed that 2540 thieves were
involved. ey arrested several of
them. Many are still free. Others
have been found dead. In October
2005, the mastermind of the plan, Luis Fernando
Ribeiro, was kidnapped. In the crime world,
it was known that Ribeiro had lots of money
from the heist. His family paid $890,000 in
ransom . e kidnappers killed him anyway.
DID YOU KNOW?
The thieves involved in the
Banco Central heist
included experts in math and
engineering, as well as a former
security guard at the bank.
ransom: the price
demanded to be paid
in exchange for the
release of a prisoner
While stationed in Iraq, US soldiers found some of the
money Saddam Hussein had stolen. Some soldiers
tried to take more than $12million for themselves,
before getting caught by military ocials.
Heists
History of Heists
Since banks have existed, bank heists have been a
tempting crime.
1798
In the first US bank robbery,
Isaac Davis and Thomas
Cunningham make off with
$162,821 from the Bank of
Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
1863
The first armed bank
robbery in the United
States takes place in
Malden, Massachusetts.
Edward Green shoots a
17-year-old clerk and
steals $5,000. Green is
caught when he starts
paying off his debts.
1869
Brothers Frank and Jesse
James kill a man while robbing
the Daviess County Savings
Association in Gallatin,
Missouri. They steal only a
stack of worthless bank papers
that Jesse grabs as he runs away.
6 Whodunnit
1932-1934
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow
commit at least bank robberies,
often stealing as little as $80 and
killing many people.
1987
At the Knightsbridge Safe Deposit
Centre in London, Valerio Viccei
and fellow thieves tell bank
employees that they want a safety
deposit box. They hold the guards at
gunpoint and take $49-73 million.
2016
John Walter Wilson demands a
bag of cash at the Tri Counties
Bank in McKinleyville,
California. While trying to
make his escape, he is chased
down and held by a 58-year-old
female citizen of the town.
Heists
While looking into the Knightsbridge Safe Deposit Centre robbery,
London investigators found a ngerprint at the scene. This clue led
them to Valerio Viccei. Viccei was already wanted for robberies.
Catching a Thief
e Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation protects banks in the United
