He worked fueling airplanes, driving a forklift, and in 1994 he got a job as a vault superintendent at Loomis. As the FBI listened in to Chambers calls, they discovered that he was also planning to have Ghantt assassinated, hoping to keep all the money for himself. Get the latest articles and test prep tips! The FBI knew they needed to make their move. Of course, the FBI was already aware of Chambers and his free-spending ways, and the murder plot helped federal agents find Ghantt south of the border. Ghantt reported to Chambers that his supply of money was running low, but Chambers sent Ghantt just $8,000. He made it across the border just as his deception was discovered. Instead, the two started hanging out on the beach together and became friends. During the hearing, Culler recounted his client's difficult personal life: her parents' divorce when she was 2 or 3 years old; a teenage stay in a Baptist Children's home; a teenage pregnancy; and various medical conditions. I learned that I was an a--hole. I did get to meet him. [7][8], Rocket Science, a 1998 double-disc album by Charlotte-based radio personalities John Boy & Billy, includes a track ("Marvin: The Loomis Caper") mocking the defendants. I knew that if we could stay off the radar for about a year, we could basically live a vacation life, Ghantt said. By then, the FBI had become greatly concerned for Ghantt's personal safety; they had learned that Chambers had plotted to have Ghantt killed in a murder for hire scheme using a "hit man" named Michael McKinney. Ghantt has never explained where that money went. I was working sometimes 75-80 hours a week at $8.15 an hour. I got no real complaints, not at this point., The heist became the premise for the movie,Masterminds, released in September 2016. Two days after the heist, the FBI found the missing van with $3.3 million of cash left in it. 43-year-old Margret and her mother both died in 2012 . 29 David Ghantt Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images. A movie based on the heist starring Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones and directed by Jared Hess (the guy who made Napoleon Dynamite) is out now on Blu-ray and DVD. David Ghantt worked as a vault supervisor for the armoured cash vehicles at the Charlotte, North Carolina branch of Loomis, Fargo & Co. Ironically even though he worked for a company that moved millions of dollars every day, he was relatively underpaid. Im like, You need to understand that, that money has been missing for 20 years. Chambers was a small-time crook who suggested to Campbell that they rob Loomis Fargo. Jandice : In any case, we got to talkin' afterwards, and I thought, well, that one's dead, this one's alive. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. Some people screw up big like you, some people screw up small.". For instance, after stealing $17.3 million $11 million of which was in $20 bills the conspirators had to leave behind $3 million in cash because they couldnt fit all of it in their cars. For Christmas, Steve Chambers gave his wife a $43,000 diamond ring. But there was just one thing the group hadnt been counting on: the massive weight of that amount of cash. You'd be amazed at how much stress you can relieve yourself from in your life by just taking 20 or so minutes a day for yourself and just letting the world go. The Loomis Fargo robbery was one of the largest heists in history, with $2 million in stolen funds still unaccounted for. When she was a teacher, Hayley's students regularly scored in the 99th percentile thanks to her passion for making topics digestible and accessible. Then check out another bank robber who inspired a movie, John Wojtowicz. But thanks in part to the film, the outlandish story of David Ghannt and the Loomis Fargo heist will surely live on for years to come. Victoria Beckham's family were on hand as she debuted her latest collection at Paris Fashion Week on March 3, including her and husband David Beckham's oldest child, Brooklyn Beckham . Kevin McCarthy is No Edward Snowden, But He Should Find the Comparison Flattering, Assessing Nicaraguas Long Haul toward Liberation and Economic Democracy, A National Divorce? He was insecure. (Ghantt works as a heavy machine operator in the construction industry.). It's the little things like that that gnaw on you. There is nothing of value in this movie. 20 years ago,on the night ofOctober 4, 1997, David Scott Ghantt loaded $17.3 million of cash from the bank vault in Charlotte, North Carolina he was employed to supervise into a van. Once Ghantt loaded the large haul from the vaultwhich could have been close to $20 millioninto a truck, he planned to drive to a second location, then head straight to the airport and fly to Mexico. A: I hate to think about what I'd be doing if I hadn't gotten caught. A former co-worker told me, "Everybody has screwed up. But even though he worked for a company that regularly moved millions of dollars, David Ghantt himself was underpaid. On similar grounds, four other people were ultimately also charged with money laundering. He made his own self miserable. Because the money in the vault was largely from banks, the crime was technically a bank robbery and thus a federal offense. You've decided to give up on a part of your life. Day in and day out, he drives an armored vehicle,. Just days after agreeing to the plan, the group set a day to carry out the robbery. As Campbell would later explain, If David got killed, there couldnt be any finger pointing. On the night of October 4, the plan went into action. It wasa painful process, but I learned to be happy with me and with what I've got. He was released in 2006. Ten days later, the group was indicted for bank larceny and money laundering. Chambers served 11 years before being released. I work construction. She wondered how much she could deposit without attracting the attention of the FBI, so she decided to just ask the teller: How much can I deposit before you have to report it to the feds? she asked. Though she agreed to cooperate with the government when she pleaded guilty to bank larceny and money laundering in August 1998, Michele Chambers didn't tell the FBI she still had the ring until December, when she turned it in. I was working sometimes 75-80 hrs a week for $8.15 an hour, I didnt even have a real home life because I was never there I was working all the time and unhappy which is understandable considering how old I was at the time. From the beginning, the FBIs prime suspect was David Ghantt. Having only brought $50,000 in cash, however, Ghantt soon found himself short on funds. The next day, the Chambers, Campbell, and some other notable parties were arrested in Charlotte. When asked what the dumbest thing was that Ghantt spent money on, he admitted: The 4 pairs of boots I bought in one day [shrug] what can I say they were nice and I was impulse shopping.. $17.3 million in cash was robbed from the Charlotte, North Carolina, regional office vault of Loomis, Fargo & Co. on the evening of October 4, 1997. afficher des publicits et des contenus personnaliss en fonction de vos profils de centres dintrt; mesurer lefficacit des publicits et contenus personnaliss; et. ABC7 Eyewitness News Watch Now Zach Galifianakis played David Scott Ghantt, with other roles played byOwen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Leslie Jones, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon. Loomis Fargo employee David Ghantt and his partners nearly pulled off the perfect crime, but it would be their lavish spending, and an alleged murder plot, that would be their undoing. During the next few months they bought a BMW-Z3 roadster and tens of thousands of dollars in antiques, furniture and decorations. Prosecutors also resisted Culler's efforts to downplay Michele Chambers' role in the theft. Harper Beckham and her dad David Beckham dressed in matching black outfits as they headed to a Paris Fashion Week event being thrown by Harper's mom and David's wife Victoria . Wij, Yahoo, maken deel uit van de Yahoo-merkenfamilie. His partners, who planned to stay behind, agreed to send him his full cut of the money after the heat from investigators had died down. Former Cramerton Police Chief David Young soon got wind of the Chambers excessive spending spree and reached out to the FBI. When Ghantt called Chambers to have the latter wire him more money, Chambers sent just a few thousand dollars. Its kind of out of sight, out of mind, she said of the reasoning. Her sentence would've been ``substantially' less if she hadn't kept it, officials said. That suspicion was immediately confirmed by a quick glance at the security camera footage that showed Ghantt doing a little dance after loading all the cash into the van. I knew that if I did something like that, I would take a huge amount of money, Ghantt said of the brash robbery on an upcoming episode of CNBCs Super Heists, airing Monday at 10 p.m. Ghantt, a U.S. Army veteran, was living a relatively boring life working as the vault superintendent at a Loomis Fargo armored car warehouse just outside Charlotte, North Carolina making a relatively meager paycheck, when he crossed paths with Kelly Campbell. But it was Ghantt, now 47 and living with his wife and daughter in Jacksonville, Florida, who actually took more than 2,000 pounds of cash and just drove away from his job. 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. Finally, in March 1998, the FBI traced a call from Ghantts phone and he was arrested in Mexico. Elizabeth Poile was in 10th . AMA In October of 1997, I was a vault supervisor for armored truck company Loomis Fargo, when I made off with $17.3 million. The pair were both from the United States but had lived in the Peloponnese region of Greece for the past few years. (I) bought jewelry, bought a van, Campbell recalled of her own spending. But it was Ghantt, now 47 and living with his wife and daughter in Jacksonville, Florida,who actually took more than 2,000 pounds of cash and just drove away from his job. They would then load as much cash as they could carry into a van. Galifianakis seems to be playing a character out of Dumb and Dumber 3: The Dumbening; Kristen Wiig plays what could only be described as her worst SNL character; Owen Wilson plays an Owen Wilson character; and Sudeikis plays a bumbling hitman who cant pull the trigger after he finds out his target shares the same name and birthdate, which is the dumbest twist since the Martha revelation in Batman vs. Superman. In the end, eight co-conspirators were indicted for the Loomis Fargo heist. By comparison, Ghantt served seven years in prison and was fined $26,000. While listening in, they uncovered another more sinister alleged plan to kill Ghantt. The FBI (Leslie Jones, Jon Daly) made easy work of the case, however, and everyone involved was eventually arrested and imprisoned. 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Even the outtakes during the credits are bad. David Ghantt is more than just a man who was a part of one of the worlds largest heists, he's more than a funny name associated with a comedy movie, he's actually just an every day person who once made a really bad decision. As it turns out, the heist did in fact go as well as you might expect. This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 16:45. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Before he decided to steal $17 million from the bank, Ghantt had worked for years as a relatively taciturn and compliant employee. I mean, thats pretty much why I did it. On Oct. 5, 1997, Ghantt carried out the heist during his regular shift after sending another employee home, stealing more than $17 million from the bank vault. Chambers, his wife, and several of their accomplices were arrested the next day. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Whisler said he didn't think those factors should result in a reduced sentence. They also bought a BMW Z3 with cash and made several large purchases, including a $600 cigar store Indian. We were two paychecks away from being homeless at any given time.. I didnt even know about it and overlooked it, he said. Q: Do you ever think about what your life would be like if you had gotten away with the money? Once the heat was off, Ghantt would return and they would split the haul evenly. Chambers, who made an ill-fated decision to buy a home in the gated Cramer Mountain community with his newfound wealth, now runsa gym on Lowell-Bethesda Road. But in addition to a wife,. If you're trying to make yourself better today, that's all most people care about. Campbell left her job in the summer of 1997, but she would later use Ghantts feelings for her to her own advantage to get him to agree to carry out the multi-million-dollar heist. She had previously been making frequent small deposits to avert suspicion. Campbell used part of her share of the money to buy a Toyota Sienna minivan in two cash installments. Ghantt was the vault manager. Across the border in Mexico, Ghantt was also living it up. David Ghantt discovers the true meaning of adventure far beyond his wildest dreams. C hristopher David Ghantt Phone Numbers (704) 678-8911. I got to eat my meal perfectly, but every 5 minutes, someone wanted to shoot a selfie with Zach or an autograph from Zach. Most high schools offer a variety of history classes, so make sure youre taking the right ones for you. More than 2 million dollars is still missing to this day. The additions come as KFC recently removed some menu items, including wings, popcorn chicken and cookies, to make room for new additions. David Ghantt normally came home between 6 and 8 p.m., and often he was late, his wife said. Her husband, Steve Chambers, whom prosecutors have called the main defendant, began serving an 11-year sentence earlier this year. Chambers had known enough to insist that no one blows through a ton of cash immediately after the robbery, but once he actually had his hands on the money, he couldnt follow his own advice. But as Ghantt admitted, the film took some liberties with specific details and characters to make the film funnier. But last Oct. 4, when he still hadn't gotten home by 2:30 a.m., she called his parents in. All of the defendants except for one pleaded guilty and accepted their sentences. Defense attorney Jim Griffin laid out his team's side of the case to the jury for more than two hours, arguing . You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or www.Twitter.com/TheGazetteKevin. The couple was married for 22 years before her untimely death in 2012. This article will teach you more about the SAT subject testsasync src='https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js' and help you decide whether you should take them. Then Michele made a trip to the bank. Inside the truck, they found Ghantt's ring and surmised this was a sign of Ghantt's intention to end his relationship with his wife. The Election, U.S. Foreign Policy, And Harold Pinter's 2005 Nobel Lecture, Nate Parker on Rape Allegations: 'I Don't Feel Guilty'. Explain: The scary part is that as soon as you put that little bit of money in the van, that there's no going back. The next day, Steve and Michelle Chambers, Kelly Campbell, and four others were arrested.[6]. In October of 1997, I was a vault supervisor for armored truck company Loomis Fargo, when I made off with $17.3 million. Over the next months, Ghantt, Campbell, and Chambers developed a plan. Ghantt was already married when he took part in the heist, to a woman named Tammy - who author Diamant described as "very nice." It is true, however, that she had no idea about the plot and that. Kate. ``This defendant was second to Steve Chambers in (benefiting) from the crime,' he said. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. According to Campbell, Chambers could help Ghantt execute a massive cash robbery of the vault at Loomis Fargo in one night. He told me they were in the dirt business, so he didn't have to worry too much about me. Lorsque vous utilisez nos sites et applications, nous utilisons des, authentifier les utilisateurs, appliquer des mesures de scurit, empcher les spams et les abus; et. Guided by federal sentencing rules, prosecutors had requested a sentence of nine years for Michele Chambers. An FBI criminal investigation ultimately resulted in the arrest and conviction of eight people directly involved in the heist, as well as sixteen others who had indirectly helped them, and the recovery of approximately 88% of the stolen money. Defense lawyer Andy Culler sought a seven-year, three-month sentence. Project #ShowUs. A: Zach and I have a runningtext conversation going, but he's very busy. The painful part is that when you get caught, that the part of your brain that was trying to talk to you when you first started the robbery was right, and that's like a dump truck running over you. He would eventually be arrested in Mexico in March 1998 after one of his co-conspirators put out a hit on him under the false suspicion he was the only prime suspect authorities were aware of at the time. The chief running joke in Masterminds is the Prince Valiant 'do gamely sported by Galifianakis as David Ghantt, . Will Mcintyre/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesMichele Chambers 1998 BMW for sale following the prosecutions of the Loomis Fargo heist conspirators. Hes a great person. A: I'm in dire need for some RO's barbecue and some Tony's Ice Cream. Q: You say your time in federal prison changed you. Q: North Carolina native Zach Galifianakis portrayed you in "Masterminds." Chambers and his wife Michele moved out of a trailer and into a luxury mansion in a nice neighborhood. Retro CharlotteFBI security footage of David Ghantt in the midst of the Loomis Fargo heist. Campbellwho was married herselfrepresented something new and exciting. Chambers promised to wire him money in Mexico until the investigation blew over and Ghantt could return to . He was the only employee unaccounted for the next morning, and videotapes recovered at the Loomis Fargo Charlotte office showed Ghantt removing "cubes of cash" and loading it into a Loomis Fargo armored van for over an hour. There was also no dramatic showdown between Chambers and Ghantt as the movie suggests. Her reaction seems so far away now, all these years and a Hall of Fame career later. ``I'm glad she didn't get nine years,' said Sandra Floyd, her mother. Authorities had the receipt and had known it was missing. ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score, How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League, Is the ACT easier than the SAT? Custom Content. Campbell was another employee at Loomis Fargo and she and Ghantt quickly struck up a relationship, one that Campbell denies was ever romantic though FBI evidence says otherwise, and one that continued after she left the company. If I could get far enough away in a very short amount of time, my odds of getting away with it were pretty high, Ghantt said. Answer: The painful one is getting caught. An elderly American couple who went missing in Greece in late January this year were discovered dead in Taygetos mountain range. If you can see the obvious flaw in this plan, namely that Chambers would have no reason whatsoever to actually wire Ghantt any money, then congratulations. Follow him on twitter: @MSainat1, 20 Years Later: Masterminds of One of the Largest Bank Heists in U.S. History, The CIAs Changing Take on the Climate Emergency, Emancipation, Hollywoods Best Civil War Film Ever. The details of the heist itself, coupled with the missteps the crew made after stealing the money, attracted the attention of writers and movie producers. All but one of the indicted pleaded guilty. . If so,check out some of these books on our AP History Exam reading list. Although the history of the predecessor Wells Fargo & Company dates back to 1852, Loomis Fargo & Company was established in 1997 by the consolidation of Wells Fargo Armored Service and Loomis Armored Inc.; the resulting corporation employed 8,500 people and provided armored transportation, cash handling services, and automatic teller machine maintenance. All but one of the defendants pleaded guilty. David Ghantt on stealing 17 million dollars from Loomis Fargo (Crime & Entertainment Full Interview) Crime & Entertainment 3.77K subscribers Subscribe 4.8K views 1 year ago David Ghantt. I knew that if I did something like that, I would take a huge amount of money, Ghantt said of the brash robbery on an upcoming episode of, To find out more about how the thieves got caught and how long they landed behind bars, tune in the. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Si vous ne souhaitez pas que nos partenaires et nousmmes utilisions des cookies et vos donnes personnelles pour ces motifs supplmentaires, cliquez sur Refuser tout. Loomis Fargo employees could not open the vault the next morning and called the police. Working by himself, Ghantt would commit the robbery and then flee for Mexico, leaving the bulk of the cash with Chambers. If I hadnt of done that, Id probably still be in North Carolina and I would not have got to meet a lot of the interesting people that Ive got to meet. The problem with the movie, however, is that the talented cast had no idea what the hell they were trying to do. (His wife tells him to change that word to "selfish."). Then, keeping with the plan, Ghantt took $50,000 (the maximum that could by law be taken across the border without further authorization) with him and left for Mexico, winding up at the popular Yucatan Peninsula resort-island of Cozumel. Afterward, outside the courthouse, her parents said the length was about what she had expected. 20 years ago, on the night of October 4, 1997, David Scott Ghantt loaded $17.3 million of cash from the bank vault in Charlotte, North Carolina he was employed to supervise into a van. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. 33. Investigators considered Ghantt to be the prime suspect almost from the beginning. He and his wife,. It was nearly the perfect crime, but while Ghantt fled to Mexico to lay low, his partners lavish spendingand their own alleged plans for murderwould ultimately be the groups demise. You see, theres a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. Instead, the bandits just started throwing as much money as they could into the van until they couldnt fit anymore. Within two days, the investigators found the van with $3 million in cash and the security camera tapes inside. And, with the help of several others David made off with $17.3 million dollars, 11 million of which was in 20's. The defense has finished its closing argument in the murder trial of Alex Murdaugh. [citation needed], The defendants were the targets of many barbed jokes in Charlotte and across the country, in part because of their extravagant spending. I was working all the time and unhappy I felt cornered and one day the joking in the break room about robbing the place suddenly didnt seem so far-fetched.. U kunt uw keuzes te allen tijde wijzigen door te klikken op de links 'Privacydashboard' op onze sites en in onze apps. Chambers was always considered the "mastermind" behind the theft, but he doesn't talkmuch about his Loomis heist days, not even when actor Owen Wilson portrayed him in the 2016comedy about the heist titled"Masterminds.". The FBI investigation was aided by the gang's extravagant spending. This Wednesday marks the 20th anniversary of the notorious Loomis Fargo heist. Its easy to get somebody to do something if you know that they are that infatuated with you.. While making only eight dollars an hour in his role as supervisor, Ghantt decided it was time to do something: I was unhappy with my life.
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