Instead, they found three tonnes of gold bullion. He was not with the gang when the robbery took place. Both men remained mute following their arrests. Unfortunately, this proved to be an idle hope. They did not expect to find the Aladdin's cave to contain some 26m in gold bullion and diamonds that they stumbled upon. Any doubts that the Brinks gang had that the FBI was on the right track in its investigation were allayed when the federal grand jury began hearings in Boston on November 25, 1952, concerning this crime. At the time of the Brinks robbery, Geagan was on parole, having been released from prison in July 1943, after serving eight years of a lengthy sentence for armed robbery and assault. 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. FBI investigating $150 million jewelry heist of Brinks truck traveling from San Mateo County to Southern California. Both had served prison sentences, and both were well known to underworld figures on the East Coast. His explanation: He had been drinking at a bar in Boston. 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. The group were led . Early in June 1956, however, an unexpected break developed. Two of the gang members moved toward the door to capture him; but, seeing the garage attendant walk away apparently unaware that the robbery was being committed, they did not pursue him. There were recurring rumors that this hoodlum, Joseph Sylvester Banfield (pictured), had been right down there on the night of the crime. Continuous investigation, however, had linked him with the gang. Their hands were tied behind their backs and adhesive tape was placed over their mouths. Pino admitted having been in the area, claiming that he was looking for a parking place so that he could visit a relative in the hospital. Like Gusciora, OKeefe was known to have associated with Pino prior to the Brinks robbery. They had brought no tools with them, however, and they were unsuccessful. 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. During an interview with him in the jail in Springfield, Massachusetts, in October 1954, special agents found that the plight of the missing Boston racketeer was weighing on OKeefes mind. Except for $5,000 that he took before placing the loot in Maffies care, OKeefe angrily stated, he was never to see his share of the Brinks money again. Like the others, Banfield had been questioned concerning his activities on the night of January 17, 1950. It ultimately proved unproductive. In the succeeding two weeks, nearly 1,200 prospective jurors were eliminated as the defense counsel used their 262 peremptory challenges. 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 theft changed the face of the British underworld. Ten of the persons who appeared before this grand jury breathed much more easily when they learned that no indictments had been returned. Costa was associated with Pino in the operation of a motor terminal and a lottery in Boston. 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.". He advised that he and his associate shared office space with an individual known to him only as Fat John. According to the Boston hoodlum, on the night of June 1, 1956, Fat John asked him to rip a panel from a section of the wall in the office, and when the panel was removed, Fat John reached into the opening and removed the cover from a metal container. Again, he was determined to fight, using the argument that his conviction for the 1948 larceny offense was not a basis for deportation. The group were led . In the back were Pino, OKeefe, Baker, Faherty, Maffie, Gusciora, Michael Vincent Geagan (pictured), and Thomas Francis Richardson. In the late summer of 1944, he was released from the state prison and was taken into custody by Immigration authorities. 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. Pino previously had arranged for this man to keep his shop open beyond the normal closing time on nights when Pino requested him to do so. Before removing the remainder of the loot from the house on January 18, 1950, the gang members attempted to identify incriminating items. Interviews with him on June 3 and 4, 1956, disclosed that this 31-year-old hoodlum had a record of arrests and convictions dating back to his teens and that he had been conditionally released from a federal prison camp less than a year beforehaving served slightly more than two years of a three-year sentence for transporting a falsely made security interstate. During 1955, OKeefe carefully pondered his position. Todd Williamson/Getty Images David Ghantt attends the 2016 after party for the Hollywood premiere of Masterminds, based on the Loomis Fargo heist that he helped carry out. It was called the crime of the century, the largest heist in US history, an almost perfect robbery. On the afternoon of August 28, 1954, Trigger Burke escaped from the Suffolk County jail in Boston, where he was being held on the gun-possession charge arising from the June 16 shooting of OKeefe. Subsequently, OKeefe left his carand the $200,000in a garage on Blue Hill Avenue in Boston. 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. The robbers did little talking. More than 100 persons took the stand as witnesses for the prosecution and the defense during September 1956. They put the entire $200,000 in the trunk of OKeefes automobile. 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. Three of the newspapers used to wrap the bills were identified. A few years before the Brink's-Mat robbery . Subsequently, this machine gun was identified as having been used in the attempt on OKeefes life. The Bureau was convinced that it had identified the actual robbers, but evidence and witnesses had to be found. OKeefe did not know where the gang members had hidden their shares of the lootor where they had disposed of the money if, in fact, they had disposed of their shares. 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 . In addition to mold, insect remains also were found on the loot. Mr. Gilbert was 37 on the day of the attack, Oct. 20, 1981, when nearly $1.6 million in cash was stolen from an armored Brink's car outside the Nanuet Mall near Nyack. The FBI also succeeded in locating the carpenter who had remodeled the offices where the loot was hidden. Richardson had participated with Faherty in an armed robbery in February 1934. First, there was the money. In examining the bill, a Federal Reserve note, the officer observed that it was in musty condition. (Burke was arrested by FBI agents at Folly Beach, South Carolina, on August 27, 1955, and he returned to New York to face murder charges which were outstanding against him there. On February 5, 1950, however, a police officer in Somerville, Massachusetts, recovered one of the four revolvers that had been taken by the robbers. All five employees had been forced at gunpoint to lie face down on the floor. Banfield drove the truck to the house of Maffies parents in Roxbury. As the truck drove past the Brinks offices, the robbers noted that the lights were out on the Prince Street side of the building. On January 13, 1956, the Suffolk County grand jury returned indictments against the 11 members of the Brinks gang. Other members of the robbery gang also were having their troubles. 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. Noye is currently being depicted in a new six-part BBC series into the infamous Brinks-Mat robbery, which took place in 1983. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. 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. 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. OKeefe wore crepe-soled shoes to muffle his footsteps; the others wore rubbers. Before his trial in McKean County, he was released on $17,000 bond. Well-meaning persons throughout the country began sending the FBI tips and theories which they hoped would assist in the investigation. 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. Although the attendant did not suspect that the robbery was taking place, this incident caused the criminals to move more swiftly. While on bond he returned to Boston; on January 23, 1954, he appeared in the Boston Municipal Court on the probation violation charge. After the truck parts were found, additional suspicion was attached to these men. The families of OKeefe and Gusciora resided in the vicinity of Stoughton, Massachusetts. In the hours immediately following the robbery, the underworld began to feel the heat of the investigation. It was reported that on May 18, 1954, OKeefe and his racketeer associate took Vincent Costa to a hotel room and held him for several thousand dollars ransom. The crime inspired at least four movies and two books, including The Story of the Great Brink's Robbery, as Told by the FBI. He arrived in Baltimore on the morning of June 3 and was picked up by the Baltimore Police Department that evening. Due to his criminal record, the Immigration and Naturalization Service instituted proceedings in 1941 to deport him. On March 4, 1950, pieces of an identical truck were found at a dump in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Local officers searched their homes, but no evidence linking them with the truck or the robbery was found. In 1997, Loomis Fargo employee David Ghantt robbed the armored car company of $17 million. He subsequently was convicted and executed.). Accordingly, another lock cylinder was installed until the original one was returned. (Geagan, who was on parole at the time, left the truck before it arrived at the home in Roxbury where the loot was unloaded. OKeefe was enraged that the pieces of the stolen Ford truck had been placed on the dump near his home, and he generally regretted having become associated at all with several members of the gang. Even after these convictions, OKeefe and Gusciora continued to seek their release. Veteran criminals throughout the United States found their activities during mid-January the subject of official inquiry. What Happened To The Brinks Mat Robbery? As of January 1956, more than $2,775,000, including $1,218,211.29 in cash was still unaccounted for. Paul Jawarski (sometimes spelled Jaworski) in a yellowed newspaper . An inside man by the name of Anthony . The group had expected to find foreign currency at the security depot but instead happened upon 26 million worth of goods. An attempted armored truck heist in South Africa was caught on camera recently; it illustrates the dangers of the job. In addition, although violent dissension had developed within the gang, there still was no indication that any of the men were ready to talk. Based on the available information, however, the FBI felt that OKeefes disgust was reaching the point where it was possible he would turn against his confederates. The Brinks Mat Robbery: The real story that inspired The Gold. However, the group were shocked to find a massive 26 million in gold . The Brink Mat robbery was a heist that occurred at Heathrow International Trading Estate on November 26, 1983, when six armed robbers broke into a warehouse run by a US and British joint venture, Brink's Mat. 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. If Baker heard these rumors, he did not wait around very long to see whether they were true. He needed money for his defense against the charges in McKean County, and it was obvious that he had developed a bitter attitude toward a number of his close underworld associates. During the trip from Roxbury, Pino distributed Navy-type peacoats and chauffeurs caps to the other seven men in the rear of the truck. Brinks customers were contacted for information regarding the packaging and shipping materials they used. Tarr was doomed to the role of unlucky Brinks driver. Some persons claimed to have seen him. All of them wore Navy-type peacoats, gloves, and chauffeurs caps. However, by delving into the criminal world, Edwyn. Then, there was the fact that so much dead wood was includedMcGinnis, Banfield, Costa, and Pino were not in the building when the robbery took place. He had been questioned concerning his whereabouts on January 17, 1950, and he was unable to provide any specific account of where he had been. 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. The truck found at the dump had been reported stolen by a Ford dealer near Fenway Park in Boston on November 3, 1949. Banfield, the driver, was alone in the front. On June 2, 1950, OKeefe and Gusciora left Boston by automobile for the alleged purpose of visiting the grave of Guscioras brother in Missouri. As the robbers sped from the scene, a Brinks employee telephoned the Boston Police Department. Even in their jail cells, however, they showed no respect for law enforcement. 00:29. On January 12, 1953, Pino was released on bail pending a deportation hearing. The discovery of this money in the Tremont Street offices resulted in the arrests of both Fat John and the business associate of the criminal who had been arrested in Baltimore. The Brinks Mat Robbery: The real story that inspired The Gold. At approximately 9:50 p.m., the details of this incident were furnished to the Baltimore Field Office of the FBI. All identifying marks placed on currency and securities by the customers were noted, and appropriate stops were placed at banking institutions across the nation. 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. While the officer and amusement arcade operator were talking to him, the hoodlum reached into his pocket, quickly withdrew his hand again and covered his hand with a raincoat he was carrying. 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. Each robbers face was completely concealed behind a Halloween-type mask. 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. A roll of waterproof adhesive tape used to gag and bind bank employees that was left at the scene of the crime. Those killed in the. The full details of this important development were immediately furnished to the FBI Office in Boston. Other information provided by OKeefe helped to fill the gaps which still existed. The Boston underworld rumbled with reports that an automobile had pulled alongside OKeefes car in Dorchester, Massachusetts, during the early morning hours of June 5. July 18, 2022, 9:32 AM UTC. The other gun was picked up by the officer and identified as having been taken during the Brinks robbery. An immediate effort also was made to obtain descriptive data concerning the missing cash and securities. All efforts to identify the gang members through the chauffeurs hat, the rope, and the adhesive tape which had been left in Brinks proved unsuccessful. Pino, Richardson, and Costa each took $20,000, and this was noted on a score sheet. The heist happened on Prince Street in Boston's North End on Jan. 17, 1950. 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. Among the early suspects was Anthony Pino, an alien who had been a principal suspect in numerous major robberies and burglaries in Massachusetts. The alibi, in fact, was almost too good. But according to the ruling filed in B.C., Brinks paid the money back immediately after the victim bank notified the company that a robbery had occurred making use of "keys, access codes and . Captain Marvel mask used as a disguise in the robbery. The serial numbers of several of these bills were furnished to the FBI Office in Baltimore. After being wounded on June 16, OKeefe disappeared. In addition, McGinnis received other sentences of two years, two and one-half to three years, and eight to ten years. Binoculars were used in this phase of the casing operation. Yet, it only amounted to a near perfect crime. Fat John and the business associate of the man arrested in Baltimore were located and interviewed on the morning of June 4, 1956. On November 26 1983, six armed robbers entered the Brink's-Mat security warehouse at the Heathrow International Trading Estate. You get me released, and Ill solve the case in no time, these criminals would claim. BY The Associated Press. 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. He claimed there was a large roll of bills in his hotel roomand that he had found that money, too. The last false approach took place on January 16, 1950the night before the robbery. The amusement arcade operator told the officer that he had followed the man who passed this $10.00 bill to a nearby tavern. Again, the FBIs investigation resulted merely in the elimination of more possible suspects. In December 1954, he indicated to the agents that Pino could look for rough treatment if he (OKeefe) again was released. The. He had been short changed $2,000. In pursuing the underworld rumors concerning the principal suspects in the Brinks case, the FBI succeeded in identifying more probable members of the gang. Subsequently, he engaged in a conversation with McGinnis and a Boston police officer.
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