In our day and age, banks have more advanced security systems compared to generations before.
There have been many bank robberies all throughout our history and some may have been attempted robberies while others were successful at the task.
A bank robbery is the actual crime of stealing from a bank while there are bank employees and other people around.
The robber usually uses force, threat of violence and actual violence to steal from the bank.
In the history of the United States alone, there have been over thousands and thousands of bank robberies every couple years. But with all the bank robberies happening in the US, what is the most famous bank robbery in history?
The culprits
With the intensive research done, since there are many robberies that have claimed to be the most famous bank robbery in history, one specific robbery appeared in most of the searches.
The Great Brink’s Robbery is one of the most famous bank robbery in US history. This was an armed robbery of the Brink’s Building at the corner of Commercial St. and Prince St at the North End of Boston, Massachusetts.
It happened on January 17, 1950. An estimated $1,218,211.29 in cash and $1,557,183,83 in money order, checks and other securities were reported to be stolen during one of the most famous bank robbery in history.
It is considered to be the largest robbery in the history of the entire United States.
Most talked about robbery in history
The robbery went on to be very successful because it was skilfully planned out with only a few clues left at the crime scene. It was also said to be “the crime of the century” during its time.
Many individuals would probably remember hearing about this bank robbery or have heard stories about it since it is quite famous. The robbery was done by an eleven member gang. They were all arrested later on.
The originator of this heist was Joseph “Big Joe” McGinnis who was almost known as Joseph “Specs” O’Keefe. Involved in the gang were also individuals named, Stanley “Gus” Gusciora and also Atonia “Fat” Pino.
Two of the members secretly entered the Brink’s depot and they used an ice pick to pick the outside lock.
They asked a locksmith to duplicate keys for them so they can use it to get in when they plan to enter. They then recruited seven other members, the brother-in-law of Pino, Vincent Costa, Thomas Francis Richardson, Michael Vincent “Vinnie” Geagon, Henry Baker, Adolph “Jazz” Maffie, Joseph “Barney” Banfield and James Faherty.
They then all studied the bank schedules and planned for the best time for their plan. They would practice runs when everybody at the bank had left for a smooth transition of events. The gang had planned for the perfect timing and planned for two years.
media frenzyOn January 17, 1950, the gang finally decided to go on with their heist after six aborted attempts. The gang wore a uniform that was similar to the Brink’s uniform and also wore Halloween masks, gloves and rubber shoes.
The driver Banfield and Pino stayed in the getaway car while the other men entered at 6:55PM. At 7:30PM they finished and took whatever they could . The members then went on separate ways to plan out their alibis.
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Even with the success of their plan, all were caught during different time periods. Eight of the members received a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Only $58,000 was returned out of the $2.7 million stolen, making this one of the most famous bank robbery in history.