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. Mutulu Shakur, born Jeral Wayne Williams, is serving a 60-year sentence for organizing multiple bank and armored car robberies in New York and Connecticut. The thieves quickly bound the employees and began hauling away the loot. Each of these leads was checked out. Even with the recovery of this money in Baltimore and Boston, more than $1,150,000 of currency taken in the Brinks robbery remained unaccounted for. Geagan claimed that he spent the evening at home and did not learn of the Brinks robbery until the following day. California thieves pulled off a heist straight out of "Ocean's 11'' swiping up to $150 million in jewels from a Brink's armored truck as it drove from one convention show to . Next year January 2023 to be precise will mark 30 years since the Brink's depot in Rochester was looted for $7.4 million, then the fifth largest armored car company heist in the country. He claimed there was a large roll of bills in his hotel roomand that he had found that money, too. Captain Marvel mask used as a disguise in the robbery. He had been short changed $2,000. At approximately 7:00 p.m. on January 17, 1950, members of the gang met in the Roxbury section of Boston and entered the rear of the Ford stake-body truck. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Following their arrests, a former bondsman in Boston made frequent trips to Towanda in an unsuccessful effort to secure their release on bail. You get me released, and Ill solve the case in no time, these criminals would claim. Six armed men stole diamonds, cash and three tonnes of gold bullion from a warehouse close to . The FBIs analysis of the alibis offered by the suspects showed that the hour of 7:00 p.m. on January 17, 1950, was frequently mentioned. Had any particles of evidence been found in the loot which might directly show that they had handled it? During these approaches, Costaequipped with a flashlight for signaling the other men was stationed on the roof of a tenement building on Prince Street overlooking Brinks. On September 8, 1950, OKeefe was sentenced to three years in the Bradford County jail at Towanda and fined $3,000 for violation of the Uniform Firearms Act. With the death of Gusciora, only eight members of the Brinks gang remained to be tried. At 4:20 p.m. on January 6, 1956, OKeefe made the final decision. All of them wore Navy-type peacoats, gloves, and chauffeurs caps. Within two months of his return, another member of the gang suffered a legal setback. Until the FBI and its partners painstakingly solved the case. On January 13, 1956, the Suffolk County grand jury returned indictments against the 11 members of the Brinks gang. Following the federal grand jury hearings, the FBIs intense investigation continued. On February 5, 1950, however, a police officer in Somerville, Massachusetts, recovered one of the four revolvers that had been taken by the robbers. A detailed search for additional weapons was made at the Mystic River. He arrived in Baltimore on the morning of June 3 and was picked up by the Baltimore Police Department that evening. The Brink's cargo trailer was. . They put the entire $200,000 in the trunk of OKeefes automobile. And what of McGinnis himself? What Happened To The Brinks Mat Robbery? This man subsequently identified locks from doors which the Brinks gang had entered as being similar to the locks which Pino had brought him. A federal search warrant was obtained, and the home was searched by agents on April 27, 1950. While some gang members remained in the building to ensure that no one detected the operation, other members quickly obtained keys to fit the locks. Much of the money taken from the money changer appeared to have been stored a long time. To muffle their footsteps, one of the gang wore crepe-soled shoes, and the others wore rubbers. Subsequently, this machine gun was identified as having been used in the attempt on OKeefes life. When the robbers decided that they needed a truck, it was resolved that a new one must be stolen because a used truck might have distinguishing marks and possibly would not be in perfect running condition. According to the criminal who was arrested in Baltimore, Fat John subsequently told him that the money was part of the Brinks loot and offered him $5,000 if he would pass $30,000 of the bills. Each carried a pair of gloves. In the fall of 1955, an upper court overruled the conviction on the grounds that the search and seizure of the still were illegal.). As the loot was being placed in bags and stacked between the second and third doors leading to the Prince Street entrance, a buzzer sounded. At the time of their arrest, Faherty and Richardson were rushing for three loaded revolvers that they had left on a chair in the bathroom of the apartment. 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. Gusciora also claimed to have been drinking that evening. The team of burglars bypassed the truck's locking mechanism and used the storage containers to haul away precious gems, gold and other valuables. All identifying marks placed on currency and securities by the customers were noted, and appropriate stops were placed at banking institutions across the nation. As a guard moved to intercept him, Burke started to run. Since he claimed to have met no one and to have stopped nowhere during his walk, he actually could have been doing anything on the night of the crime. 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. Seven months later, however, he was again paroled. As the truck drove past the Brinks offices, the robbers noted that the lights were out on the Prince Street side of the building. An appeal was promptly noted, and he was released on $15,000 bond. He. For example, from a citizen in California came the suggestion that the loot might be concealed in the Atlantic Ocean near Boston. 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. OKeefe wore crepe-soled shoes to muffle his footsteps; the others wore rubbers. Three of the remaining five gang members were previously accounted for, OKeefe and Gusciora being in prison on other charges and Banfield being dead. Despite the lack of evidence and witnesses upon which court proceedings could be based, as the investigation progressed there was little doubt that OKeefe had been one of the central figures in the Brinks robbery. (On January 18, 1956, OKeefe had pleaded guilty to the armed robbery of Brinks.) The criminal explained that he was in the contracting business in Boston and that in late March or early April 1956, he stumbled upon a plastic bag containing this money while he was working on the foundation of a house. A thorough investigation was made concerning his whereabouts on the evening of January 17, 1950. Two other Baltimore police officers who were walking along the street nearby noted this maneuver. 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. A third attempt on OKeefes life was made on June 16, 1954. How much money was stolen in the Brinks robbery? At the Prison Colony, Baker was serving two concurrent terms of four to ten years, imposed in 1944 for breaking and entering and larceny and for possession of burglar tools. At the time of Bakers release in 1949, Pino was on hand to drive him back to Boston. He had been convicted of armed robbery in 1940 and served several months in the Massachusetts State Reformatory and the Norfolk, Massachusetts, Prison Colony. Many problems and dangers were involved in such a robbery, and the plans never crystallized. FBI.gov is an official site of the U.S. Department of Justice. On November, 26, 1983, three tonnes of solid gold bullion was taken by six armed robbers from the Brink's-Mat security depot near Heathrow Airport. (Following pleas of guilty in November 1956, Fat John received a two-year sentence, and the other two men were sentenced to serve one years imprisonment. When this case was continued until April 1, 1954, OKeefe was released on $1,500 bond. They did not expect to find the Aladdin's cave to contain some 26m in gold bullion and diamonds that they stumbled upon. The robbers removed the adhesive tape from the mouth of one employee and learned that the buzzer signified that someone wanted to enter the vault area. The gang members who remained at the house of Maffies parents soon dispersed to establish alibis for themselves. On this day, Jawarski made history by pulling off the nation's first armored car robbery. After nearly three years of investigation, the government hoped that witnesses or participants who had remained mute for so long a period of time might find their tongues before the grand jury. As the truck sped away with nine members of the gangand Costa departed in the stolen Ford sedanthe Brinks employees worked themselves free and reported the crime. Both had served prison sentences, and both were well known to underworld figures on the East Coast. Before his trial in McKean County, he was released on $17,000 bond. The group were led . There was James Ignatius Faherty, an armed robbery specialist whose name had been mentioned in underworld conversations in January 1950, concerning a score on which the gang members used binoculars to watch their intended victims count large sums of money. Following the robbery, authorities attempted unsuccessfully to locate him at the hotel. The most important of these, Specs OKeefe, carefully recited the details of the crime, clearly spelling out the role played by each of the eight defendants. At approximately 9:50 p.m., the details of this incident were furnished to the Baltimore Field Office of the FBI. When the employees were securely bound and gagged, the robbers began looting the premises. OKeefe was bitter about a number of matters. When questioned concerning his activities on the night of January 17, 1950, Richardson claimed that after unsuccessfully looking for work he had several drinks and then returned home. In addition to mold, insect remains also were found on the loot. Henry Baker, another veteran criminal who was rumored to be kicking in to the Pennsylvania defense fund, had spent a number of years of his adult life in prison. If Baker heard these rumors, he did not wait around very long to see whether they were true. OKeefe was sentenced on August 5, 1954, to serve 27 months in prison. Their success in evading arrest ended abruptly on May 16, 1956, when FBI agents raided the apartment in which they were hiding in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Some persons claimed to have seen him. He subsequently was convicted and executed.). The full details of this important development were immediately furnished to the FBI Office in Boston. Six members of the gangBaker, Costa, Geagan, Maffie, McGinnis, and Pinowere arrested by FBI agents on January 12, 1956. 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. On August 29, 1954, the officers suspicions were aroused by an automobile that circled the general vicinity of the abandoned car on five occasions. Pino also was linked with the robbery, and there was every reason to suspect that OKeefe felt Pino was turning his back on him now that OKeefe was in jail. The robbers did little talking. During the trip from Roxbury, Pino distributed Navy-type peacoats and chauffeurs caps to the other seven men in the rear of the truck. A Secret Service agent, who had been summoned by the Baltimore officers, arrived while the criminal was being questioned at the police headquarters, and after examining the money found in the bill changers possession, he certified that it was not counterfeit. The robbery of 26m of gold bars from a warehouse near Heathrow airport is one of Britain's most notorious - and biggest - heists. On the 26 November 1983, half a dozen armed men broke into the Brink's-Mat depot near London's Heathrow Airport, where they were expecting to find a million pounds worth of foreign currency.. The stolen 6,800 gold ingots, diamonds and cash would be worth 100million today. Rumors from the underworld pointed suspicion at several criminal gangs. The gang at that time included all of the participants in the January 17, 1950, robbery except Henry Baker. You'd be forgiven for mistaking the 2005 Miami Brinks heist for a movie script. In April 1950, the FBI received information indicating that part of the Brinks loot was hidden in the home of a relative of OKeefe in Boston. Banfield, the driver, was alone in the front. BOSTON Friday, Jan. 17, 2020 marks 70 years since a group of armed and masked men stole millions of dollars from an armored car depot in the North End in what the FBI still calls "the crime of the century.". Two weeks of comparative quiet in the gang members lives were shattered on June 5, 1954, when an attempt was made on OKeefes life. On November, 26, 1983, three tonnes of solid gold bullion was taken by six armed robbers from the Brink's-Mat security depot near . Several hundred dollars were found hidden in the house but could not be identified as part of the loot. What happened to the other half of the Brink's-Mat gold? 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. If passing police had looked closer early that Saturday morning on November 26, 1983, they would have noticed the van was weighted down below its wheel arches with three tons of gold. Their hands were tied behind their backs and adhesive tape was placed over their mouths. Micky McAvoy, believed by police to be the mastermind behind the robbery, was arrested ten days after the robbery. Perkins was handed a 22-year jail sentence for that one, but absconded from open prison in 1995 and managed to . The public called the robbery the crime of the century: On January 17, 1950, armed men stole more than $2.7 million in cash, checks, money orders, and other securities from a Brink's in. The. The Transit's heavily armed occupants had stolen the bullion less than an hour earlier from the Brink's-Mat security warehouse 12 miles away at Heathrow. Nonetheless, the finding of the truck parts at Stoughton, Massachusetts, was to prove a valuable break in the investigation. During his brief stay in Boston, he was observed to contact other members of the robbery gang. 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. The new proceedings were based upon the fact that Pino had been arrested in December 1948 for a larceny involving less than $100. McGinnis had been arrested at the site of a still in New Hampshire in February 1954. T he robbers were there because they knew there was 3 million in cash locked in the . Due to his criminal record, the Immigration and Naturalization Service instituted proceedings in 1941 to deport him. Underworld rumors alleged that Maffie and Henry Baker were high on OKeefes list because they had beaten him out of a large amount of money. Shakur, the stepfather of hip-hop star . Of the hundreds of New England hoodlums contacted by FBI agents in the weeks immediately following the robbery, few were willing to be interviewed. The recovery of part of the loot was a severe blow to the gang members who still awaited trial in Boston. Before the robbery was committed, the participants had agreed that if anyone muffed, he would be taken care of. OKeefe felt that most of the gang members had muffed. Talking to the FBI was his way of taking care of them all. 00:29. He was not involved in the Brinks robbery. He was paroled in the fall of 1944 and remained on parole through March 1954 when misfortune befell him. This chauffeurs cap was left at the scene of the crime of the centurythe 1950 robbery of a Brink's bank branch in Massachusetts. During 1955, OKeefe carefully pondered his position. It was billed as the perfect crime and the the crime of the century.. The Brink's-Mat robbery remains to this day one of Britain's biggest and most audacious heists. And it nearly was. Stanley Gusciora (pictured left), who had been transferred to Massachusetts from Pennsylvania to stand trial, was placed under medical care due to weakness, dizziness, and vomiting. The Brinks Mat Robbery: The real story that inspired The Gold. On the night of January 17, 1952exactly two years after the crime occurredthe FBIs Boston Office received an anonymous telephone call from an individual who claimed he was sending a letter identifying the Brinks robbers. Despite the arrests and indictments in January 1956, more than $2,775,000, including $1,218,211.29 in cash, was still missing. 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. One of his former girl friends who recalled having seen him on the night of the robbery stated that he definitely was not drunk. The wall partition described by the Boston criminal was located in Fat Johns office, and when the partition was removed, a picnic-type cooler was found. At the outset, very few facts were available to the investigators. (Geagan and Richardson, known associates of other members of the gang, were among the early suspects. (McGinnis trial in March 1955 on the liquor charge resulted in a sentence to 30 days imprisonment and a fine of $1,000. The results were negative. 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 defense immediately filed motions which would delay or prevent the trial. The detainer involved OKeefes violation of probation in connection with a conviction in 1945 for carrying concealed weapons. Well-meaning persons throughout the country began sending the FBI tips and theories which they hoped would assist in the investigation. Even after these convictions, OKeefe and Gusciora continued to seek their release. More than $7 million was stolen in a brazen holdup at a Brink's armored car service in Rochester in 1993. In the end, the perfect crime had a perfect endingfor everyone but the robbers. Tarr was doomed to the role of unlucky Brinks driver. The Great Brinks Robbery was the biggest armed robbery in U.S. history at the time. Commonly regarded as a dominant figure in the Boston underworld, McGinnis previously had been convicted of robbery and narcotics violations. On November 26, 1981, six armed men from South London broke into the Brink's-Mat warehouse near London Heathrow. After careful checking, the FBI eliminated eight of the suspects. Occasionally, an offender who was facing a prison term would boast that he had hot information. The hoodlum was taken to police headquarters where a search of his person disclosed he was carrying more than $1,000, including $860 in musty, worn bills. They did not expect to. The group were led . This phase of the investigation greatly disturbed many gamblers. At approximately 7:30 p.m. on June 3, 1956, an officer of the Baltimore, Maryland, Police Department was approached by the operator of an amusement arcade. 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. He was not with the gang when the robbery took place. From his cell in Springfield, OKeefe wrote bitter letters to members of the Brinks gang and persisted in his demands for money. The Brinks case was front page news. The amusement arcade operator told the officer that he had followed the man who passed this $10.00 bill to a nearby tavern. All but Pino and Banfield stepped out and proceeded into the playground to await Costas signal. A few weeks later, OKeefe retrieved his share of the loot. Two of the participants in the Brinks robbery lived in the Stoughton area. The removal of the lock cylinder from the outside door involved the greatest risk of detection. The month preceding January 17, 1950, witnessed approximately a half-dozen approaches to Brinks. There had been three attempts on his life in June 1954, and his frustrated assassins undoubtedly were waiting for him to return to Boston. In a film-style series of events, criminals broke into the. Using the outside door key they had previously obtained, the men quickly entered and donned their masks. Police who arrived to investigate found a large amount of blood, a mans shattered wrist watch, and a .45 caliber pistol at the scene. At that time, Pino approached OKeefe and asked if he wanted to be in on the score. His close associate, Stanley Gusciora, had previously been recruited, and OKeefe agreed to take part. Yet, it only amounted to a near perfect crime. 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. Somehow the criminals had opened at least threeand possibly fourlocked doors to gain entrance to the second floor of Brinks, where the five employees were engaged in their nightly chore of checking and storing the money collected from Brinks customers that day. This is good money, he said, but you cant pass it around here in Boston.. Nonetheless, several members of the Brinks gang were visibly shaken and appeared to be abnormally worried during the latter part of May and early in June 1954. After being wounded on June 16, OKeefe disappeared. The criminals had been looking to do a. First, there was the money. Some of the bills were in pieces. Before fleeing with the bags of loot, the seven armed men attempted to open a metal box containing the payroll of the General Electric Company. Inside this container were packages of bills that had been wrapped in plastic and newspapers. 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. Allegedly, he pulled a gun on OKeefe; several shots were exchanged by the two men, but none of the bullets found their mark. Three of the newspapers used to wrap the bills were identified. In the back were Pino, OKeefe, Baker, Faherty, Maffie, Gusciora, Michael Vincent Geagan (pictured), and Thomas Francis Richardson. Others fell apart as they were handled. Prior to this time, McGinnis had been at his liquor store. Well-known Boston hoodlums were picked up and questioned by police. Due to unsatisfactory conduct, drunkenness, refusal to seek employment, and association with known criminals, his parole was revoked, and he was returned to the Massachusetts State Prison. 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. During the period in which Pinos deportation troubles were mounting, OKeefe completed his sentence at Towanda, Pennsylvania. Two hours later he was dead. One of the biggest robberies in U.S. history happened here. This lead was pursued intensively. Three and one-half hours later, the verdict had been reached. Information received from this individual linked nine well-known hoodlums with the crime. The $2.775 million ($31.3 million today) theft consisted of $1,218,211.29 in cash and $1,557,183.83 in checks, money orders, and other securities. Adolph Maffie, who had been convicted of income tax violation in June 1954, was released from the Federal Corrections Institution at Danbury, Connecticut, on January 30, 1955. Three years later, Great Train Robber. At the time of his arrest, there also was a charge of armed robbery outstanding against him in Massachusetts. The Brinks Job, 1950. A search of the hoodlums room in a Baltimore hotel (registered to him under an assumed name) resulted in the location of $3,780 that the officers took to police headquarters. In its determination to overlook no possibility, the FBI contacted various resorts throughout the United States for information concerning persons known to possess unusually large sums of money following the robbery. Brinks customers were contacted for information regarding the packaging and shipping materials they used. It was given to him in a suitcase that was transferred to his car from an automobile occupied by McGinnis and Banfield. Officials said the incident happened at a Wendy's in a strip mall at 87th and Lafayette, right off the Dan Ryan Expressway. Accordingly, another lock cylinder was installed until the original one was returned. An automobile identified as the car used in the escape was located near a Boston hospital, and police officers concealed themselves in the area. A number of them discontinued their operations; others indicated a strong desire that the robbers be identified and apprehended. As this bag was being emptied later that evening, the glasses were discovered and destroyed by the gang. 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. In examining the bill, a Federal Reserve note, the officer observed that it was in musty condition. OKeefe was wounded in the wrist and chest, but again he managed to escape with his life. In December 1948, Brinks moved from Federal Street to 165 Prince Street in Boston. There are still suspicions among some readers that the late Tom O'Connor, a retired cop who worked Brinks security during the robbery, was a key player, despite his acquittal on robbery charges at . The Brink's-Mat robbery occurred at the Heathrow International Trading Estate, London, United Kingdom, on 26 November 1983 and was one of the largest robberies in British history. From this lookout post, Costa was in a position to determine better than the men below whether conditions inside the building were favorable to the robbers. Pino had been questioned as to his whereabouts on the evening of January 17, 1950, and he provided a good alibi. Both men remained mute following their arrests. The eight men were sentenced by Judge Forte on October 9, 1956. After each interview, FBI agents worked feverishly into the night checking all parts of his story which were subject to verification. While the others stayed at the house to make a quick count of the loot, Pino and Faherty departed. The families of OKeefe and Gusciora resided in the vicinity of Stoughton, Massachusetts. Had the ground not been frozen, the person or persons who abandoned the bags probably would have attempted to bury them. After weighing the arguments presented by the attorneys for the eight convicted criminals, the State Supreme Court turned down the appeals on July 1, 1959, in a 35-page decision written by the Chief Justice. Thus, when he and Gusciora were taken into custody by state authorities during the latter part of January 1950, OKeefe got word to McGinnis to recover his car and the $200,000 that it contained. On June 2, 1950, OKeefe and Gusciora left Boston by automobile for the alleged purpose of visiting the grave of Guscioras brother in Missouri. Approximately one and one-half hours later, Banfield returned with McGinnis. Born in Italy in 1907, Pino was a young child when he entered the United States, but he never became a naturalized citizen. To his neighbors in Jackson Heights in the early 1990s, Sam . Other members of the robbery gang also were having their troubles. It ultimately proved unproductive. Kenneth Noye now: What happened to the criminal depicted in The Gold after the Brink's-Mat robbery,The Gold tells the remarkable true story of a heist that went almost too well, with success bringing a host of problems
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