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KF5JRV > TODAY 17.01.25 09:48l 19 Lines 2659 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 3628_KF5JRV
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Subj: Today in History - Jan 17
Path: IZ3LSV<DB0ERF<DK0WUE<DK0WUE<VK5RSV<VK2RZ<VE3CGR<WW4BSA<N3HYM<KE0GB<
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Sent: 250117/0836Z 3628@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.23
On January 17, 1950, 11 men steal more than $2 million ($29 million today) from the Brink's Armored Car depot in Boston, Massachusetts. It was the perfect crimeâ€öalmostâ€öas the culprits werenâ€Öt caught until January 1956, just days before the statute of limitations for the theft expired.
The robberyâ€Ös mastermind was Anthony “Fats” Pino, a career criminal who recruited a group of 10 other men to stake out the depot for 18 months to figure out when it held the most money. Pinoâ€Ös men then managed to steal plans for the depotâ€Ös alarm system, returning them before anyone noticed they were gone.
Wearing navy blue coats and chauffeurâ€Ös caps–similar to the Brink's employee uniforms–with rubber Halloween masks, the thieves entered the depot with copied keys, surprising and tying up several employees inside the companyâ€Ös counting room. Filling 14 canvas bags with cash, coins, checks and money ordersâ€öfor a total weight of more than half a tonâ€öthe men were out and in their getaway car in about 30 minutes. Their haul? More than $2.7 millionâ€öthe largest robbery in U.S. history up until that time.
September 1971: An annotated photograph showing how bank robbers tunneled into the Baker Street branch of Lloyd's Bank in London from an empty shop two doors away. The gang raided 250 safety deposit boxes in the strong room of the bank and escaped with an estimated 3 million British pounds (around 7 million U.S. dollars at the time and $51 million today).
No one was hurt in the robbery, and the thieves left virtually no clues, aside from the rope used to tie the employees and one of the chauffeurâ€Ös caps. The gang promised to stay out of trouble and not touch the money for six years in order for the statute of limitations to run out. They might have made it, but for the fact that one man, Joseph “Specs” Oâ€ÖKeefe, left his share with another member in order to serve a prison sentence for another burglary. While in jail, Oâ€ÖKeefe wrote bitterly to his cohorts demanding money and hinting he might talk. The group sent a hit man to kill Oâ€ÖKeefe, but he was caught before completing his task. The wounded Oâ€ÖKeefe made a deal with the FBI to testify against his fellow robbers.
Eight of the Brink's robbers were caught, convicted and given life sentences. Two more died before they could go to trial. Only a small part of the money was ever recovered; the rest is fabled to be hidden in the hills north of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. In 1978, the famous robbery was immortalized on film in The Brink's Job, starring Peter Falk.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
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