The 10 Most Daring Robberies in History
Carly Tennes
Published
12/12/2024
in
wow
Point Break. Dog Day Afternoon. Ocean's Eleven.
Contrary to what we may see on screen, some of the greatest heists in history aren't works of fiction but rather cold hard facts. Cases in point? The Antwerp Diamond Heist, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft, and all the other robberies that stunned the world.
From train bandits to burglars nabbing priceless works of art, here are the 10 most daring robberies in history.
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1. The Loomis Fargo Robbery
Courtesy of Retro Charlotte“The Loomis Fargo robbery [was] the second largest cash robbery in US history, in which the conspirators were caught largely due to their extravagant spending afterwards and because one asked a bank teller how much money she could deposit before the bank had to notify the federal government.” -
2. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft
Image in Public Domain“In 1990 the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was robbed of 13 paintings worth a total of $500 million, none of them have been found, and the museum is still offering offering a $10 million reward (the largest reward by a museum in history).” -
3. Jesse James’ Train Robbery
Courtesy of PBS“Jesse James stole a gold shipment from America's transcontinental railroad in 1873. A Chinese student wrote ‘nothing occurred on our Eastward journey to mar the enjoyment ... excepting a train robbery, a consequent smashup of the engine, and the murder of the engineer.’” -
4. City Bonds Robbery
Courtesy of Oast House Archive“In 1990 a courier was robbed on a street in London, England. The robber made off with bearer bonds to the value of £292 million. Today, this is equivalent to £758 million - or $1.086 billion USD. This is still the highest amount ever stolen in a street robbery.” -
5. Antoinette Frank’s Restaurant Robbery
Courtesy of Crime Library“A New Orleans police officer committed an armed robbery murdering a uniformed policeman and two employees of a restaurant in the process. One employee hid in the freezer and was spared; the officer returned to ‘investigate’ the crime, and was identified by the survivor as the shooter.” -
6. Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI
Courtesy of Smallbones“In 1971 a group of activists broke into an FBI office in Delaware and got away with 1000 secret documents. The plan was to do the heist during 'the match of the century' between Ali and Frazer, predicting that security would be glued to their TVs for the match, and thus distracted.” -
7. The KGK Holding Jewelry Heist
Courtesy of the NYPD“At 12:00 a.m. on New Years Eve 2017, three men pulled off a 6 MILLION dollar jewelry heist only a half mile from Times Square and 7,000 NYPD officers. Police said the men waited till midnight, when the officers would be the most busy, to break into KGK Holding Jewelry." -
8. The ‘90s Baby Bandit Robberies
Courtesy of Alek Leckszas“In the 1990's, Los Angeles was the bank robbery capital of America. After droves of "Baby Bandits" started robbing hundreds of banks, employees began to quit en masse. In 1992, losses related to robberies exceeded those from fraud for the first time.” -
9. The Transy Book Heist
Courtesy of Vanity Fair“In 2004, 4 college students carried out a heist to steal rare books worth millions from Transy University. Despite numerous blunders, they managed to evade capture until they were ID'd by a phone number. FBI agents had also heard them loudly comparing themselves to 'Ocean's 12' at the theatre.” -
10. The Antwerp Diamond Heist
Courtesy of Thorsten1997“The Antwerp Diamond Heist [was] a 2003 jewellery heist in which thieves stole over $100 million worth of gems. The ringleader was caught after he was linked to DNA on a partially eaten salami sandwich found near the crime scene. Most of the stolen diamonds remain uncovered.”
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The Loomis Fargo Robbery
“The Loomis Fargo robbery [was] the second largest cash robbery in US history, in which the conspirators were caught largely due to their extravagant spending afterwards and because one asked a bank teller how much money she could deposit before the bank had to notify the federal government.”
“The Loomis Fargo robbery [was] the second largest cash robbery in US history, in which the conspirators were caught largely due to their extravagant spending afterwards and because one asked a bank teller how much money she could deposit before the bank had to notify the federal government.”
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