An immediate effort also was made to obtain descriptive data concerning the missing cash and securities. David Ghantt was the vault supervisor for Loomis, Fargo & Co. armored cars, which managed the transportation of large sums of cash between banks in North Carolina. Allegedly, other members of the Brinks gang arranged for OKeefe to be paid a small part of the ransom he demanded, and Costa was released on May 20, 1954. The money inside the cooler which was concealed in the wall of the Tremont Street office was wrapped in plastic and newspaper. All had been published in Boston between December 4, 1955, and February 21, 1956. A few months prior to the robbery, OKeefe and Gusciora surreptitiously entered the premises of a protective alarm company in Boston and obtained a copy of the protective plans for the Brinks building. This cooler contained more than $57,700, including $51,906 which was identifiable as part of the Brinks loot. In the end, the perfect crime had a perfect endingfor everyone but the robbers. Even fearing the new bills might be linked with the crime, McGinnis suggested a process for aging the new money in a hurry.. And the gang felt that the chances of his talking were negligible because he would be implicated in the Brinks robbery along with the others. Early in June 1956, however, an unexpected break developed. Terry Perkins. Two other men, ex-Brink's guard Thomas O'Connor and unemployed teacher Charles McCormick, were acquitted. Two other Baltimore police officers who were walking along the street nearby noted this maneuver. While on bond he returned to Boston; on January 23, 1954, he appeared in the Boston Municipal Court on the probation violation charge. At 6:30am, six armed robbers from a south London gang entered the premises of the Brink's-Mat warehouse at Heathrow. (Investigation to substantiate this information resulted in the location of the proprietor of a key shop who recalled making keys for Pino on at least four or five evenings in the fall of 1949. Jewelers report over $100 million in losses after Brinks armored truck robbed in California. The other keys in their possession enabled them to proceed to the second floor where they took the five Brinks employees by surprise. The curse of Brink's-Mat: What happened to the Brink's-Mat robbers? During 1955, OKeefe carefully pondered his position. As a protective measure, he was incarcerated in the Hampden County jail at Springfield, Massachusetts, rather than the Suffolk County jail in Boston. After being wounded on June 16, OKeefe disappeared. This was in their favor. Before the robbery was carried out, all of the participants were well acquainted with the Brinks premises. Each man also was given a pistol and a Halloween-type mask. 00:29. Six armed men stole diamonds, cash and three tonnes of gold bullion from a warehouse close to . In the hours immediately following the robbery, the underworld began to feel the heat of the investigation. On June 4, 1956 a man named "Fat John" admitted he had money that was linked to the Brink's robbery in his possession. They Pulled Off A $17.3 Million Heist But They Still May Have Been Race tracks and gambling establishments also were covered in the hope of finding some of the loot in circulation. The men had thought they were robbing a sum of foreign money, but instead found three tonnes of gold bullion (6,800 ingots), with a value of 26 million back then, around 100 million today. Brinks customers were contacted for information regarding the packaging and shipping materials they used. Robbers in California steal $100 million of jewelry from Brink Truck In the hope that a wide breach might have developed between the two criminals who were in jail in Pennsylvania and the gang members who were enjoying the luxuries of a free life in Massachusetts, FBI agents again visited Gusciora and OKeefe. On August 1, 1954, he was arrested at Leicester, Massachusetts, and turned over to the Boston police who held him for violating probation on a gun-carrying charge. The Gold: The Inside Story will hear from the . Considerable thought was given to every detail. A passerby might notice that it was missing. How mastermind behind 26million Brink's-Mat robbery died penniless In the succeeding two weeks, nearly 1,200 prospective jurors were eliminated as the defense counsel used their 262 peremptory challenges. Baker fled and the brief meeting adjourned. Nonetheless, the finding of the truck parts at Stoughton, Massachusetts, was to prove a valuable break in the investigation. They stole 26 million in gold bullion - the biggest robbery of . All right, he told two FBI agents, what do you want to know?. The pardon meant that his record no longer contained the second conviction; thus, the Immigration and Naturalization Service no longer had grounds to deport him. When was the brink's-mat robbery? The Gold mixes fact and fiction for dramatic purposes Each of the five lock cylinders was taken on a separate occasion. Neither had too convincing an alibi. On October 20, 1981, a Brinks Company armored car was robbed of $1,589,000 in cash that it was preparing to transfer from the Nanuet National Bank in Clarkstown, N.Y. One of the guards of the. Local officers searched their homes, but no evidence linking them with the truck or the robbery was found. After receiving the go ahead signal from Costa, the seven armed men walked to the Prince Street entrance of Brinks. Each carried a pair of gloves. McGinnis, who had not been at the scene on the night of the robbery, received a life sentence on each of eight indictments that charged him with being an accessory before the fact in connection with the Brinks robbery. On June 19, 1958, while out on appeal in connection with a five-year narcotics sentence, he was found shot to death in an automobile that had crashed into a truck in Boston.). They were checked against serial numbers of bills known to have been included in the Brinks loot, and it was determined that the Boston criminal possessed part of the money that had been dragged away by the seven masked gunmen on January 17, 1950. The nation's first armored car robbery took place here in 1927 It was given to him in a suitcase that was transferred to his car from an automobile occupied by McGinnis and Banfield. The planning and practice had a military intensity to them; the attention to detail including the close approximation of the uniform of the Brinks guards was near . (On January 18, 1956, OKeefe had pleaded guilty to the armed robbery of Brinks.) Some of the jewelry might. While OKeefe and Gusciora lingered in jail in Pennsylvania, Pino encountered difficulties of his own. As a government witness, he reluctantly would have testified against him. An attempted armored truck heist in South Africa was caught on camera recently; it illustrates the dangers of the job. In addition to mold, insect remains also were found on the loot. Released to McKean County, Pennsylvania, authorities early in January 1954 to stand trial for burglary, larceny, and receiving stolen goods, OKeefe also was confronted with a detainer filed by Massachusetts authorities. A roll of waterproof adhesive tape used to gag and bind bank employees that was left at the scene of the crime. The record of the state trial covered more than 5,300 pages. Despite the fact that substantial amounts of money were being spent by members of the robbery gang during 1954, in defending themselves against legal proceedings alone, the year ended without the location of any bills identifiable as part of the Brinks loot. The Brinks vehicle, followed closely by guards traveling in an automobile, turned onto a stone-paved lane called Old Bethel Road. Does your jewellery contain stolen Brink's-Mat gold? The Brinks Mat Robbery: The real story that inspired The Gold. A number of them discontinued their operations; others indicated a strong desire that the robbers be identified and apprehended. Costa claimed that after working at the motor terminal until approximately 5:00 p.m. on January 17, 1950, he had gone home to eat dinner; then, at approximately 7:00 p.m., he left to return to the terminal and worked until about 9:00 p.m. To muffle their footsteps, one of the gang wore crepe-soled shoes, and the others wore rubbers. The trial of these eight men began on the morning of August 6, 1956, before Judge Feliz Forte in the Suffolk County Courthouse in Boston. Others fell apart as they were handled. Kenneth Noye now: What happened to the criminal depicted in The Gold By fixing this time as close as possible to the minute at which the robbery was to begin, the robbers would have alibis to cover their activities up to the final moment. Both denied knowledge of the loot that had been recovered. On November 26, 1981, six armed men from South London broke into the Brink's-Mat warehouse near London Heathrow. All efforts to identify the persons responsible for the theft and the persons who had cut up the truck were unsuccessful. The Brinks Robbery: Crime of the Century by Gianna Ortiz Seventy years ago today, a group of men stole $1.2 million in cash and $1.5 million in checks. What Was the Brink's-Mat Heist and What Happened to All the Gold? FBI.gov is an official site of the U.S. Department of Justice. Six members of the gangBaker, Costa, Geagan, Maffie, McGinnis, and Pinowere arrested by FBI agents on January 12, 1956. As the robbers sped from the scene, a Brinks employee telephoned the Boston Police Department. The Brink's cargo trailer was. How America's Biggest Heist, the Great Brinks Robbery, Fell Apart On November 26, 1981, six armed men from South London broke into the Brink's-Mat warehouse near London Heathrow. Instead, they found three tonnes of gold bullion. Inside the building, the gang members carefully studied all available information concerning Brinks schedules and shipments. The fiber bags used to conceal the pieces were identified as having been used as containers for beef bones shipped from South America to a gelatin manufacturing company in Massachusetts. On this day, Jawarski made history by pulling off the nation's first armored car robbery. The officer verified the meeting. For the Rockland County community, the Brink's Robbery rises to that historic standard. The names of Pino, McGinnis, Adolph Jazz Maffie, and Henry Baker were frequently mentioned in these rumors, and it was said that they had been with OKeefe on the Big Job.. After the heist was completed, one of the warehouse workers managed to free themselves from their restraints and notify the authorities, but the robbers were already long gone. The Brink's truck was robbed in the early morning . OKeefes racketeer associate, who allegedly had assisted him in holding Costa for ransom and was present during the shooting scrape between OKeefe and Baker, disappeared on August 3, 1954. If local hoodlums were involved, it was difficult to believe that McGinnis could be as ignorant of the crime as he claimed. The loot was quickly unloaded, and Banfield sped away to hide the truck. Perkins was handed a 22-year jail sentence for that one, but absconded from open prison in 1995 and managed to . There was Adolph Jazz Maffie, one of the hoodlums who allegedly was being pressured to contribute money for the legal battle of OKeefe and Gusciora against Pennsylvania authorities. Through the interviews of persons in the vicinity of the Brinks offices on the evening of January 17, 1950, the FBI learned that a 1949 green Ford stake-body truck with a canvas top had been parked near the Prince Street door of Brinks at approximately the time of the robbery. The Brinks Job, 1950 - Crimes of the Century - TIME Pierra Willix Monday 13 Feb 2023 8:00 am. Using the outside door key they had previously obtained, the men quickly entered and donned their masks. BBC The Gold: What happened to DCS Brian Boyce after Heathrow Brink's Ten of the persons who appeared before this grand jury breathed much more easily when they learned that no indictments had been returned. Examination by the FBI Laboratory subsequently disclosed that the decomposition, discoloration, and matting together of the bills were due, at least in part, to the fact that all of the bills had been wet. On the night of January 18, 1950, OKeefe and Gusciora received $100,000 each from the robbery loot. Video captures attempted armored truck robbery in South Africa The conviction for burglary in McKean County, Pennsylvania, still hung over his head, and legal fees remained to be paid. They had brought no tools with them, however, and they were unsuccessful. He was certain he would be considered a strong suspect and wanted to begin establishing an alibi immediately.) BBC's The Gold: The true story of the Brink's-Mat Robbery Among the early suspects was Anthony Pino, an alien who had been a principal suspect in numerous major robberies and burglaries in Massachusetts. On November, 26, 1983, three tonnes of solid gold bullion was taken by six armed robbers from the Brink's-Mat security depot near . Neither Pino nor McGinnis was known to be the type of hoodlum who would undertake so potentially dangerous a crime without the best strong-arm support available. An automobile identified as the car used in the escape was located near a Boston hospital, and police officers concealed themselves in the area. This man claimed to have no knowledge of Pinos involvement in the Brinks robbery.). The. Shortly before 7:30 p.m., they were surprised by five menheavily disguised, quiet as mice, wearing gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints and soft shoes to muffle noise. On the evening of January 17, 1950, employees of the security firm Brinks, Inc., in Boston, Massachusetts, were closing for the day, returning sacks of undelivered cash, checks, and other material to the company safe on the second floor. It ultimately proved unproductive. OKeefes reputation for nerve was legend. On November 26, 1982, six armed robbers forced their way into the Brink's-Mat warehouse, the plan was to steal the 3.2m in cash they were expecting to find stored there. Soon after OKeefes return in March 1954, Baker and his wife left Boston on a vacation.. Brinks employee fights for job after being accused in half - CBC Three years later, almost to the day, these ten men, together with another criminal, were to be indicted by a state grand jury in Boston for the Brinks robbery. 'The Gold' Has All the Hallmarks of a Crime Classic Their plan was to enter the Brinks building and take a truck containing payrolls. Following their arrests, a former bondsman in Boston made frequent trips to Towanda in an unsuccessful effort to secure their release on bail. Two days after Christmas of 1955, FBI agents paid another visit to OKeefe. On November 26, 1983, six armed robbers broke into the Brink-Mat security depot near Heathrow Airport in hopes of stealing 3.2 million in cash. In the years following a shared event, like an assassination, everyone remembers where they were when it happened. The descriptions and serial numbers of these weapons were carefully noted since they might prove a valuable link to the men responsible for the crime. Two days before Maffies release, another strong suspect died of natural causes. As the investigation developed and thousands of leads were followed to dead ends, the broad field of possible suspects gradually began to narrow. On the afternoon of July 9, he was visited by a clergyman. As the truck drove past the Brinks offices, the robbers noted that the lights were out on the Prince Street side of the building. In the late summer of 1944, he was released from the state prison and was taken into custody by Immigration authorities. Before removing the remainder of the loot from the house on January 18, 1950, the gang members attempted to identify incriminating items. The robbery. Continuous investigation, however, had linked him with the gang. The results were negative. This incident also took place in Dorchester and involved the firing of more than 30 shots. OKeefe was wounded in the wrist and chest, but again he managed to escape with his life. What Was the Brink's-Mat Robbery? | History Hit He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 1984 for involvement in the Brink's Mat job. None of these materialized because the gang did not consider the conditions to be favorable. OKeefe was sentenced on August 5, 1954, to serve 27 months in prison. This lead was pursued intensively. The heist. Apparently suspicious, OKeefe crouched low in the front seat of his car as the would-be assassins fired bullets that pierced the windshield. Pino could have been at McGinnis liquor store shortly after 7:30 p.m. on January 17, 1950, and still have participated in the robbery. From their prison cells, they carefully followed the legal maneuvers aimed at gaining them freedom. The Brink's-Mat robbery remains to this day one of Britain's biggest and most audacious heists. The Brinks Job, 1950. From masked gunmen and drugs to kidnappings and bags of cash, the $7.4 million robbery had it all. The alibi was strong, but not conclusive. Reports had been received alleging that he had held up several gamblers in the Boston area and had been involved in shakedowns of bookies. What happened to the other half of the Brink's-Mat gold? Brinks armored truck robbery leads to claims of $100 million in jewelry Gusciora now had passed beyond the reach of all human authority, and OKeefe was all the more determined to see that justice would be done. The new proceedings were based upon the fact that Pino had been arrested in December 1948 for a larceny involving less than $100. Brains behind the 26million Brink's-Mat bullion robbery - The Sun