Former Loomis employee David Scott Ghantt is accused of stealing the money. There are many robberies registered in the history of America, but the Loomis Fargo Robbery is known to be the second largest robbery in the United States. Its in the ether. David didn't appreciate her tone. Spunk. Campbell and her husband had always been just scraping by, however in the weeks following the robbery, the two seemed to have more money than theyve ever had. He had joined the army and earned an honorable discharge, but because of defense-industry cutbacks he hadn't been able to find a good job for himself. His eyes widened and he stopped breathing as he realized that something as mundane as a malfunctioning gate might ruin their entire plan. Human nature is a flexible part of life, Gronquist said. But after a year, they cut it down to two agents. The Loomis Fargo Heist Over the next months, Ghantt, Campbell, and Chambers developed a plan. Then, he proceeded to load 2,800 pounds of cash into a van. They succeeded in removing $17 million from the safe. Still facing possible unknowns of other people involved, the FBI needed to gather more information without the suspects getting suspicious of them. Its a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I went down and talked to them, got to meet Zach Galifianakis and the director, Ghantt said. They had met in December 1995 on one of her first days at Loomis. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: But where will they park? The building was configured so vans could drive inside and pull up next to the vault. 2023 Cox Media Group. The walk-in vault was a fortified gray room, more wide than long, with shelves, cabinets, desks, and multiple pushcarts stocked with shrink-wrapped cash. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. Curiously, Payne had recently paid of his Visa in one payment and had been driving around new and rented vehicles for the past weeks. He hired a hitman to take Ghantt out, tying up the ultimate loose end. The plan to. A third surveillance tape was carelessly left behind, and the company was able to identify the man who robbed the vault as David Ghantt. In all, agents arrested 24 people in the heist. In 2017, for example, Paul Burks of Lexington was ordered to pay $244 million to the victims of his worldwide Ponzi scheme, Zeek Rewards. And they hit the jackpot -- FBI video shows agents recovering most of the stolen cash. Jeff Diamant was a reporter for the Charlotte Observer when the heist took place. Sure to be in demand as the book has been made into a movie, Masterminds, to be released in August.Michael Sawyer, Pine Bluff, AR. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer. Paying the money back has taken a lot longer, and time is running out for the U.S. government to collect. He had stayed in a luxury hotel and paid for expensive food and activities such asscuba divingandparasailing. None of the suspects had been in any serious trouble before this. For example, Steve Chambers and his wife were living in a trailer and upgraded to what would today be a multi-million-dollar mansion at Cramer Mountain. Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. So the pieces were falling into place for investigators. Not all of them, but some of them are going to forgive you, theyre going to overlook it., he said. It was 2:00 p.m. on October 4, 1997, and tension was building between two planners of what would rank high among the largest heists in United States history. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. "Do you know how much there's gonna be?" His collection case closes in two years. In 1994, they moved to Gastonia, North Carolina, where they had grown up, and David took a job driving a forklift. Ghantt had worked with the branch since 1994, and had been promoted from a driver to the vault supervisor. Kelly had approached David with the idea in the summer, knowing he had a crush on her and winning him over with the promise that a shady friend of hers with Mafia ties would help them. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. Also charged with money laundering were innocent relatives and friends who had co-signed safe deposit boxes. The principals here are David Ghantt, a driver for Loomis, Fargo and Co.; Kelly Campbell, the woman Ghantt had a crush on, and who convinced him to commit the crime; and Steve and Michele Chambers. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Sunny. she asked again. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. Holding her hands behind her back, Michele Chambers was sentenced Tuesday to seven years and eight months in prison for her role in the $17 million heist from Loomis, Fargo & Co. She was also. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. It, too, has changed hands several times. Ghantt studied how to rob his employer and advised the others not to spend the money lavishly. Prosecutors say a vault. FILE - Kelly Campbell, one of the 21 people convicted for their involvement in the $17 million Loomis Fargo heist, awaits sentencing for her part in the theft at her mobile home near Mount Holly . Campbell led Ghantt to think she loved him and they would flee to Mexico together, but she actually wanted to make a better life for herself in the U.S. With the plan in place, Ghantt sent a newly hired employee he had been assigned to train home early (reportedly, at 6 p.m.) and then proceeded to load a little more than $17.3 million in cash (approximately $11 million of which was in$20 bills) into the back of a company van. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. But on Oct. 4, 1997, that no longer mattered and Ghantt took off with $17.3 million. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Worlds Biggest Heists London Hatton Garden 200m Diamond Robbery, Easter 2015. They involve Loomis armored car driver David Scott Ghantt. He called Kelly to say he was coming and hopped into the driver's seat of the loaded Loomis van. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later David Scott Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. Steve was a serious guy? The case had gotten national publicity and was the subject of numerous articles, documentaries and even a movie. https://www.charlotteagenda.com/67457/loomis-fargo-heist-masterminds-movie/, http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/article104506876.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_1997_Loomis_Fargo_robbery#Company, http://retroclt.blogspot.com/2014/07/loomis-fargo-heist.html, . Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. Steve had hired a bodyguard named Mike McKinney. David was supposed to be showing him the ropes of the job, which included cash pickups and deliveries. "its a great readsuspenseful, often funny, just the thing for those wondering what it might feel like to have, as these hapless, small-town criminals did, literally too darn much cash lying around. " NASCAR. All of the co-defendants were arrested the next day, about six months after the heist. You can seize property. One night in a small North Carolina town, a down-on-his-luck guard at Loomis Fargo manages to steal $17 millionliterally more than one ton of cash. Ghantt had fled to Mexico with $50,000 in cash, leaving the rest of the money with Steve Chambers. Learn how to enable JavaScript on your browser. Enforcement of this policy is at the Punishment needs to be fair and realistic. But what the bank didnt tell Michelle, and Michelle didnt know, was that one of those forms get filled out if you ask about it, or if its close to $10,000 or if they suspect that any part of that transaction is suspicious, Wydra said. While David Ghantt trusted Steve Chambers enough to leave his cut behind, Chambers had other plans. The plan was still on, but David remained steamed. Not every agent has a case like that, he said. FILE - Kelly Campbell, one of the 21 people convicted for their involvement in the $17 million Loomis Fargo heist, awaits sentencing for her part in the theft at her mobile home near Mount Holly, N.C. on Aug 16, 1999. He quickly found out when you have money, you just have different problems, Wydra said. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. Winds light and variable. In his youth, his mother had taken him to Sears and JCPenney, but as a man he shopped at Walmart, and while he knew there was nothing wrong with that, he wished he could afford more. In total, 24 people were convicted and all but one of the accused pleaded guilty. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Remember why you were elected! Though Wydra is retired, 25 years ago, he was an agent with the FBI. Of course the problem was, the money belonged to someone else. The biggest restitution numbers for victims of financial crimes generally involve Ponzi schemes or sweepstakes fraud, not cash thefts. Federal law stops government collection efforts 20 years after a defendant leaves prison. For people earning $8.15 an hour David's salary the jokes came naturally. Thirty years! David got a kick out of her. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP). Clerk of Court Frank Johns of Charlotte. Campbell, a former Loomis employee and one of the original masterminds of the caper, has paid off less than $21,000 of the $4,701,694.18 she was docked. The woman on the phone was Kelly Jane Campbell, and David had a mad crush on her. What kind of surprised me is how much the car smelled like money, like if you ever hold money up to your nose it has a distinct smell, Wydra said. The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers' home. "About fourteen or fifteen million dollars," he said. After marrying Tammy in 1992, he worked fueling airplanes at the airport in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Driving away, he said he felt a mix of fear, confidence and excitement that he outsmarted the FBI. In Campbells case, Gronquist says his client was buried in court-ordered debt despite the fact that she took responsibility for what she had done and cooperated with prosecutors and the FBI. Expanded two-hour true crime story about the 1997 Loomis-Fargo armored car heist in North Carolina and the serio-comic fate of its bumbling underdog perpetra. When did you conclude Yeah, Im actually going to do this? Counts asked. He angrily hung up the phone at Loomis, Fargo & Co., his soon-to-be former employer in Charlotte, North Carolina. Steve Chambers would keep the rest. Later that year, he saw a newspaper ad for a job at Loomis Fargo. The woman on the phone was Kelly Jane Campbell, and David had a mad crush on her. Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date. Its in the ether. We are happy to work with other website publishers. This technically made it abank robbery afederal offense. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. In David's eyes, Johnson's big mistake was that he did it alone. David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis), an employee of Loomis Fargo, robbed his own vault, left the $17.3 million in cash with his co-conspirators, Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig) and Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson) and fled the country to Mexico. Some of the biggest numbers remaining on the Loomis collection board, as is the case with Campbell, belong to those who played the biggest role in the crime: David Ghantt, the Loomis employee who loaded all that money 2,800 pounds in all into the back of a company van before escaping to Mexico, has paid just under $50,000 of the $3.81 million he was assessed. At about 6:40 p.m., he went back inside. Diamant, a journalist who reported on the case at the time, goes into meticulous detail on how the heist was pulled off and its aftermath. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. He knew his mother would be traumatized, shocked, and appalled. Inside $3.3 million was located along with the two stolen surveillance tapes, apparently left due to the robber and his accomplices being sloppy, or in a hurry. She was five-foot-seven, had dirty-blond hair, and had worked with him for about a year at Loomis Fargo, until she left for another job in 1996. "What would it take to convince you to do it?" From there, the money was moved from the armored car to private vehicles. It has a certain feel, a smell and weight to it. Another time, the day after a Christmas in the late 1980s, David and some friends planted all the discarded Christmas trees from the area in one neighbor's front yard. Besides her prison sentence, Campbell must undergo mental health and drug treatment and spend two years in a supervised release program. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.. Clear skies. Husband and wife Steven and Michelle Chambers, whose conspicuous consumption of a luxury home, a BMW convertible, breast implants and a $600 wooden Indian, among other purchases, helped the FBI solve the crime, were assessed $3.81 million and $4.8 million, respectively. The plan was to exit through the building's electronic back gate, which consisted of horizontal metal plates that opened at the touch of a button. Most people are going to forgive you. The trainee didn't yet know how the place worked, a fact David planned to use to his advantage. As an adult, he preferred Shakespeare, Tom Clancy, and any book he could find about the Federal Bureau of Investigation. All but one of the defendants pleaded guilty. In all, they recovered $6.6 million. You cannot fine low-income people millions of dollars. When you have money, you just have different problems: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. Booklist "Librariesshould consider purchasing this entertaining and lightly edited version, which reads like a fast-paced novel." All of the primary players got fined millions of dollars --for example, Kelly Campbell was hit with more than $4 million, an amount that she will never come close to paying. Campbell used to work for Loomis and continued the friendship with Ghantt, eventually hooking him up with Chambers. So that was kind of like this once-in-a-lifetime thing, Wydra said. Chambers would then occasionally wire Ghantt money and see to his basic financial needs; when the heat was off, Ghantt was to re-enter the U.S. and the money would be split up among all of the co-conspirators. He'd already done enough, he realized, to get himself fired and arrested, even if the gate prevented him from moving the money outside the building. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. Campbell left her job in the summer of 1997, but she would later use Ghantt's feelings for her to her own advantage to get him to agree to carry out the multi-million-dollar heist. Tuesday marked 25 years since a group of buddies pulled off the third-largest money grab in U.S. history -- the Loomis Fargo heist. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later Former FBI agent John Wydra, who helped crack the case, sat down with Channel 9 Reporter Glenn Counts to talk about the clues that led to solving the crime, and how the group got caught. The case resurfaced in the federal courts on Thursday, Sept. 1, when the U.S. Attorneys Office in Charlotte posted a public reminder in the case file of Loomis defendant Kelly Campbell that she had fallen behind in her restitution. They could talk about anything, even topics he couldn't discuss with his wife. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. This month marked 25 years since one of the biggest armored car heists in U.S. history. The friend was Steve Chambers, and Kelly said he knew his way around the world of crime. That way, outsiders couldn't see money being loaded. Conversations about stealing from the company weren't rare for Loomis employees. Burks was also ordered to serve 15 years in prison, limiting his ability to balance his books. The case resurfaced in the federal courts on Thursday, Sept. 1, when the U.S. Attorneys Office in Charlotte posted a public reminder in the case file of Loomis defendant Kelly Campbell that she had fallen behind in her restitution. It was released in 2016 and Wydra was invited to the premiere. Despite being caught on camera wheeling the money from the vault to the getaway van, David Ghantt makes off to Mexico before the FBI can blink. He and co-worker Kelly Campbell, 27, had developed a close relationship and were spending time together outside of work. The 2016 comedy movie, Masterminds is based on the story of the Loomis Fargo Heist. That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. And with Loomis, were looking at only one case. The bag held his mobile phone and handgun. Former FBI agent John Wydra, who helped crack the case, sat down with Channel 9 Reporter Glenn Counts to talk about the clues that led to solving the crime, and how the group got caught. Another name the FBI had become very interested in is Eric Payne. David Ghantt was just an average Joe with an average low-wage job. The money weighed as much as a compact car and he did it all by himself. "What would it take to make you do it?". Its said the current owner now has it in storage in Phoenix, Arizona. The plan was to maintain a low profile and wait for things to cool off, allowing Ghantt to return to the states and collect his cut.
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