More than 2 million dollars is still missing to this day. He and his wife,. After a Gulf War stint in the Army, David got married in 1992. Im like, You need to understand that, that money has been missing for 20 years. But there was just one thing the group hadnt been counting on: the massive weight of that amount of cash. Jandice : In any case, we got to talkin' afterwards, and I thought, well, that one's dead, this one's alive. BBC Motion Gallery. Campbell and Chambers made themselves easy to catch, what with their lavish spending. Q: Do you appreciate your normal life now more than you would if you hadn't spent years in prison? David Ghantt, who pulled off the Loomis, Fargo & Co. vault robbery in 1997 and was sentenced to seven years in prison for the crime, served as a consultant for the film (in theaters Friday).. Theres barely a laugh in the entire film, which looks like it was shot entirely in one take while the actors were still working out their characters. (His wife tells him to change that word to "selfish."). He had stayed in a luxury hotel and paid for expensive food and activities such as scuba diving and parasailing. Naturally, Ghantt started to run out of cash and turned to Chambers, who was annoyed by his requests for more money. I felt cornered and one day the joking in the break room about robbing the place suddenly didnt seem so far-fetched.. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! In the end, eight co-conspirators were indicted for the Loomis Fargo heist. No rift here! Q: Your troubles were self-inflicted, but you seem happy. Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.PrepScholar.com, allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. Ask questions; get answers. Steve Chambers and his wife (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) were a little more difficult to connect to the heist. Authorities had the receipt and had known it was missing. We were two paychecks away from being homeless at any given time.. 5 min read. The robbery was committed by Loomis vault supervisor David Scott Ghantt, his married girlfriend Kelly Campbell (a former Loomis co-worker), Steven Eugene Chambers (a one-time FBI informant), his wife Michelle Chambers, Michael Gobbies, and four other co-conspirators. Just days after agreeing to the plan, the group set a day to carry out the robbery. I really don't miss that guy. Michele Chambers' sentence was two months longer than that given to David Scott Ghantt, the Loomis employee who removed the money from the company vault on Oct. 4, 1997. Do you still have contact with him? 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. 43-year-old Margret and her mother both died in 2012 . David Ghantt attends the after party for the Premiere Of Relativity Media's "Masterminds" on September 26, 2016 in Hollywood, California. 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. Prosecutors also resisted Culler's efforts to downplay Michele Chambers' role in the theft. Philosophically, now looking back I wouldnt be who I am now if I hadnt gone through all that, said David Scott Ghantt in an interview with the Observer. Before he decided to steal $17 million from the bank, Ghantt had worked for years as a relatively taciturn and compliant employee. In fact, David Ghantt was about to commit the heist of a lifetime. You've decided to give up on a part of your life. Then you end up in a eight by ten cube and youre going to share that cube with two other people. After meeting up with Chambers, Campbell, and some other co-conspirators, Ghantt hightailed it to Mexico with $50,000 in cash in his car. The thieves had simply abandoned whatever they couldnt carry away. Its kind of out of sight, out of mind, she said of the reasoning. Loomis Fargo employees could not open the vault the next morning and called the police. 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. He had never been in trouble with the law. In the meantime, however, Chambers not only refused to wire money to Ghantt in Mexico, but ultimately hired a hitman (Jason Sudeikis) to take him out. Anonymous tips had the FBI monitoring Chambers calls. 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. But his partners soon began to get greedy and were spending large amountswith Chambers and his wife, Michelle, even buying an exclusive mansion in cash. The pair were both from the United States but had lived in the Peloponnese region of Greece for the past few years. Its 90-minutes of mugging for the camera, but the only people who feel mugged are those that pay to see Masterminds. hbspt.cta.load(360031, '4efd5fbd-40d7-4b12-8674-6c4f312edd05', {}); Have any questions about this article or other topics? On the evening of October 4, 1997, one man loaded $17.3 million in cash from the vaults of Loomis, Fargo & Co. into the back of a van. He stayed at a luxury hotel and took scuba diving lesson. What happens at the end of mastermind? Authorities began to hone in on the group and put a wire tap on Campbell's phones. In total, 24 people were convicted. I knew that if we could stay off the radar for about a year, we could basically live a vacation life, Ghantt said. AMA In October of 1997, I was a vault supervisor for armored truck company Loomis Fargo, when I made off with $17.3 million. Said Ghantt, one day life kinda slapped me in the face. 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. The police then called the FBI because most of the money handled at the facility belonged to banks, which technically made it a bank robbery a federal offense.[5]. Campbell used part of her share of the money to buy a Toyota Sienna minivan in two cash installments. Even though they drove away with less than they had initially intended, they still had more than $17 million in hand. Both were involved in the second-largest cash heist in U.S. history, in which a group of people stole $17 million from the. All of the cash from the Loomis Fargo heist was recovered or accounted for, except for $2 million. AI Chatbots are Even Scarier Than You Think, DeSantiss Educational Policies Come Right Out of the Fascist Playbook, Erase the Memory to Erase a People? #CLXGaming#CLXRa#evokethegods 1 2 They left behind the cash they couldnt fit in their cars. For the New York State assemblyman, see. Before he decided to steal $17 million from the bank, Ghantt had worked for years as a relatively taciturn and compliant employee. . I was working sometimes 75-80 hours a week at $8.15 an hour. Youre better at planning bank heists than David Ghantt. Robbing the 7-Eleven and getting $40 bucks and a pack of Marlboros was not for me. However, the fact that a man who formerly lived in a mobile home was lavishly spending money on a luxury home ($635,000 in cash), expensive cars, and a ring ($42,000 in cash) eventually made it easy to connect the dots. All of the defendants except for one pleaded guilty and accepted their sentences. David Ghantt, a Gulf War veteran, had never been in trouble with the law. Ghantt and his compatriots, it turns out, had underestimated how bulky money is. After years of working hard, the realisation hit . Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. 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.. Instead, the bandits just started throwing as much money as they could into the van until they couldnt fit anymore. He completed his prison sentence in November 2006. At the. The College Entrance Examination BoardTM does not endorse, nor is it affiliated in any way with the owner or any content of this site. 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. The plan went off with few problems, but after Ghantt was safely in Mexico, his partners were left storing large amounts of cash. Ghantt reported to Chambers that his supply of money was running low, but Chambers sent Ghantt just $8,000. Defense attorney Jim Griffin laid out his team's side of the case to the jury for more than two hours, arguing . Chambers was a small-time crook who suggested to Campbell that they rob Loomis Fargo. His wife, they said, got breast implants and used cash to purchase a 1998 BMW Z3 sports car. We were in Old Fortwhen they were shooting the movie and went out to eat. The FBI investigation was aided by the gang's extravagant spending. 121 90 1,443 Show this thread David GhanttRetweeted C.A. The morning after the height, employees of Loomis Fargo realized they couldnt open the vault. 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. Collections. After loading the massive cache of loot into the armored truck, Ghantt set the time lock on the vault, which locked the door for days unless the employees drilled through the lock. The missing couple were identified as David Harrison Robinson and his wife Lucretia Robinson. Playing upon David's obvious feelings for her, Kelly is the . 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. In November 1990, David married Margaret in San Diego, California. Vous pouvez modifier vos choix tout moment en cliquant sur le lien Tableau de bord sur la vie prive prsent sur nos sites et dans nos applications. One day, Campbell was speaking to an old friend named Steve Chambers. David Scott Ghantt was the vault supervisor at the regional branch of Loomis, Fargo & Co. in Charlotte, North Carolina. SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination BoardTM. As a vault supervisor for Loomis Fargo, David had access to the vaults and all the cash within. What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For? I got no real complaints, not at this point., The heist became the premise for the movie,Masterminds, released in September 2016. ``There are many people with those factors who don't resort to crime,' he said. While Ghantt waited for the heat from the robbery to die down, Chambers would send Ghantt small amounts of money. David Ghantt struck up a relationship with fellow Loomis Fargo employee Kelly Campbell, and they continued to maintain contact even after Campbell left the company. By comparison, Ghantt served seven years in prison and was fined $26,000. 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. Hayley Milliman is a former teacher turned writer who blogs about education, history, and technology. Once the heat was off, Ghantt would return and they would split the haul evenly. According to Campbell, Chambers could help Ghantt execute a massive cash robbery of the vault at Loomis Fargo in one night. Just the ability to come and go as I please and walk barefooted in the backyard means so much. Project #ShowUs. The defense has finished its closing argument in the murder trial of Alex Murdaugh. That usually takes the shine right off of it, when you start explaining that. He continued, Youd be wearing a lot of khaki brown and eating crappy food., Since the films release and its recent Netflix debut, Scott Ghent cited that the most common question he receives is about the missing $2 million never recovered by the FBI; Ive had people actually ask me that question. David Ghantt : [voice-over] Steve was a petty thief, mostly known for stealing tiny wheelchairs from pediatric hospitals. He then proceeded to load about $17.3 million in cash (approximately $11 million of which was in $20 bills) into the back of a company van. At the time it was thesecond largest bank heistin U.S. history. FBI security footage of David Ghantt in the midst of the Loomis Fargo heist. They called the police, who brought in the FBI, classifying the heist as a bank robbery. By Dustin Rowles | Film | September 30, 2016 |. Ask below and we'll reply! 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. Based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery. Based on a true story, the premise itself is fascinating, which makes Masterminds all the more a waste. I wasnt attracted to him or anything, but he was a nice guy, Campbell said. The chief running joke in Masterminds is the Prince Valiant 'do gamely sported by Galifianakis as David Ghantt, . Its heavy. Q: You say your time in federal prison changed you. My name is David Scott Ghantt. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Its easy to get somebody to do something if you know that they are that infatuated with you.. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. ', He explained the glorification and glamour often associated with bank heists and bank robberies in Hollywood films is far from reality. Ghantt, who had been with the bank since 1994, was promoted from driver to vault supervisor in 1997, where he earned $360 a week and befriended Kelly Campbell (Wiig), who got Ghantt mixed up in the plans for the heist after she left Loomis. Ill never pay it off on my paycheck, Ghantt said. 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. David Ghantt spent 11 years in the military and now works as a film consultant on the side. 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. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Chambers would hold on to most of the remaining cash and wire it to Ghantt as needed. Meanwhile, Ghantt would take $50,000, as much as could legally be carried across the border without questions, and flee to Mexico. The former star . As it turns out, the heist did in fact go as well as you might expect. Nous, Yahoo, faisons partie de la famille de marques Yahoo. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. In spite of Chambers assurance that the money was, you know, totally not illegally acquired, the teller remained suspicious, especially because the stacks of cash still had Loomis Fargo wrappers on them. 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. We caught up with David Ghantt about life after his $17m heist, hanging out with Zach Galifianakis and the accuracy of Masterminds, a new movie based on. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Whisler said he didn't think those factors should result in a reduced sentence. 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? Also charged were several innocent relatives that the robbers had enlisted to help get safety deposit boxes in various banks. Two of them, Mike and Kim Goodman, are scheduled to be sentenced today. Ghantt was joking in the breakroom with fellow Loomis Fargo employee Kelly Campbell. The judge said he doubted she would be able to pay the $4.8 million restitution, but said federal law required him to impose it.

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