1. The Central Bank
of Iraq robbery
Stolen: Over $920 million
Another
robbery in Baghdad became the largest bank heist in history. The mastermind was
none other than Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.One
day before the Iraq War began in 2003, he sent three large trucks to the
Central Bank. He also sent his son Qusay with a handwritten note asking to
withdraw nearly $1 billion to keep it from enemy hands. The money was loaded
into vans and driven away.Most
of the cash was recovered in the ensuing raids — but it doesn’t end here.
Tasked with counting the illicit loot, American soldiers made off with hundreds
of thousands of dollars for themselves and their families. Thirty-five service
members were caught.
2. The Dar Es Salaam
Bank heist
Stolen: $282 million
To
this day, few details are known about the 2007 robbery at Dar Es Salaam Bank, a
private financial institution in Baghdad, Iraq. It’s unclear why the bank had
so much American cash on hand to steal.Allegedly,
the theft was orchestrated by several bank guards. The government suspected the
robbers also had contacts within local police and militias that allowed them to
pass through the many checkpoints across Baghdad undetected.No
further information has been released about the whereabouts of the money or
those responsible
3. The Knightsbridge
Security Deposit robbery
Stolen: $97 million
Valerio
Viccei, who was already wanted for more than 50 armed robberies in Italy,
almost committed the perfect crime in London in 1987.He
and an assistant walked into a bank and asked to rent a safe deposit box. When
the men were shown to the vault, they pulled out guns and overpowered the bank
manager and guards.After
putting a “closed” sign on a bank door, they let in some friends, broke into as
many of safe deposit boxes as possible and made off with millions in cash and valuables.Viccei fled to South America but was eventually arrested when he
returned to England to ship his Ferrari to his new home.
4. The Securitas depot
robbery
Stolen: $83 million
The
largest cash robbery in British history went down in 2006, at a security
services company’s warehouse in Kent. An inside man filmed the interior of the
Securitas depot in preparation.Then,
men clad in elaborate masks kidnapped the branch manager and held his family
hostage. The robbers took him to the warehouse and forced him to give them
access to the cash cages.The
crew stole about $83 million. Despite their clever disguises, some of the
robbers were caught, and the makeup artist who designed the masks became a key
witness in the case.
5. The Banco Central
burglary
Stolen: $71.6 million
The
2005 Banco Central burglary in Fortaleza, Brazil, was once recognized by
Guinness Book of World Records as the world's greatest bank robbery.To
pull it off, a 25-member gang set up a fake landscaping business. They spent
three months digging a 256-foot tunnel that led up through the bank's vault floor.Once
inside, they stole several containers that held 160 million Brazilian real
(worth $71.6 million in 2005). Only eight people were arrested, and just 20
million real was recovered.
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