The pair began to daydream about whether they could really pull off the heist. Ghantt was the vault manager. The details of the heist itself, coupled with the missteps the crew made after stealing the money, attracted the attention of writers and movie producers. ``This defendant was second to Steve Chambers in (benefiting) from the crime,' he said. But after one visit, she asked a teller "How much can I deposit before you have to report it to the feds?" At the time it was the second largest cash robbery ever to happen on US soil. He was angry a lot. Als u uw keuzes wilt aanpassen, klik dan op 'Privacyinstellingen beheren'. so make sure youre taking the right ones for you. 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. Ghantt added, I really enjoyed the movie. They also bought a BMW Z3 with cash and made several large purchases, including a $600 cigar store Indian. I figured it had to be me. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! While making only eight dollars an hour in his role as supervisor, Ghantt decided it was time to do something: I was unhappy with my life. By comparison, Ghantt served seven years in prison and was fined $26,000. Here, he amps up the most obnoxious excesses of his entire cast and lets their grating bad-improv skills run amok. Ghantt was joking in the breakroom with fellow Loomis Fargo employee Kelly Campbell. All of the cash from the Loomis Fargo heist was recovered or accounted for, except for $2 million. Two days after the heist, the FBI found the missing van with $3.3 million of cash left in it. 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. David Ghantt (@DavidGhantt) is a man that still holds the record for the second largest bank heist on American Soil. Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. When the cheerleading coach broke the news to Katrina Kohel that she was the only one left on the cheer squad, Kohel was determined to compete anyway. And Ghantt hadnt really thought about the physical challenge of moving such a large sum of money. Unfortunately, he failed to disable the third camera. [7][8], Rocket Science, a 1998 double-disc album by Charlotte-based radio personalities John Boy & Billy, includes a track ("Marvin: The Loomis Caper") mocking the defendants. But last Oct. 4, when he still hadn't gotten home by 2:30 a.m., she called his parents in. 20 years ago, on the night of October 4, 1997, David Scott Ghantt loaded $17.3 million of cash from the bank vault in Charlotte, North Carolina he was employed to supervise into a van. While Ghantt spent more than 6 1/2 years in federal prison, he said he usedthat time to"re-invent" himself. The defense has finished its closing argument in the murder trial of Alex Murdaugh. Though she agreed to cooperate with the government when she pleaded guilty to bank larceny and money laundering in August 1998, Michele Chambers didn't tell the FBI she still had the ring until December, when she turned it in. The True Story of David Ghantt and the Loomis Fargo Heist, Get Free Guides to Boost Your SAT/ACT Score, check out some of these books on our AP History Exam reading list. [citation needed], The defendants were the targets of many barbed jokes in Charlotte and across the country, in part because of their extravagant spending. How? Michele Chambers declined to make a statement at the hearing. Its a farce that never farces; a comedy without jokes. 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. Besides wearing the ring, driving the BMW, and living in the new house, prosecutors say Michele Chambers helped others deposit millions of dollars in safe-deposit boxes in the area, and that she took $200,000 in cash into a Salisbury bank in November 1997 and came out with a $200,000 check. 20 years ago,on the night ofOctober 4, 1997, David Scott Ghantt loaded $17.3 million of cash from the bank vault in Charlotte, North Carolina he was employed to supervise into a van. Lees ons privacybeleid en cookiebeleid voor meer informatie over hoe we uw persoonsgegevens gebruiken. Ghantt plead guilty to his charges andserved six years in prison, along with21 other defendantswho received chargesrangingfrom money laundering to bank larceny. Q: North Carolina native Zach Galifianakis portrayed you in "Masterminds." Q: Do you ever think about what your life would be like if you had gotten away with the money? An additional tip reached the FBI when Michelle Chambers made a large deposit at a bank. The morning after the height, employees of Loomis Fargo realized they couldnt open the vault. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. The FBI knew they needed to make their move. They got to work planning the straightforward heist that would rely on Ghantts existing access to the vault, fewer staff at the warehouse on the weekends, and the ability to use one of the companys armored trucks to make the successful getaway. While she made small deposits at first, she became more reckless, eventually making a deposit of thousands of dollars in cash, telling the teller not to worry: Its not drug money.. Now, here we are, two years later. Chambers was always considered the "mastermind" behind the theft, but he doesn't talkmuch about his Loomis heist days, not even when actor Owen Wilson portrayed him in the 2016comedy about the heist titled"Masterminds.". Answer: The painful one is getting caught. . Masterminds - Zach Galifianakis 'David Ghantt' [On-Set Interview]SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://goo.gl/SrrTlTSUBSCRIBE MOVIE TRAILERS: http://goo.gl/8WxGeDA night gu. Where ever it was, it is long gone now. Ghantt has never explained where that money went. Kelly Campbell is scheduled to be sentenced in October. Im like, You need to understand that, that money has been missing for 20 years. For Christmas, Steve Chambers gave his wife a $43,000 diamond ring. But even though he worked for a company that regularly moved millions of dollars, David Ghantt himself was underpaid. Generally, the events of the film are fairly close to reality when they follow the broad details of the case. Two days later, when the FBI found the Loomis Fargo armored van, they discovered almost $3.3 million in cash left in the back of the van; it was later discovered that the thieves had miscalculated the sheer bulk of the small denomination currency, and that they simply left the cash that they could not take with them in the back of the van. 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. They had initially agreed to control their spending for a year or two, in the belief that the government would vigorously track the spending habits of any and all suspects for at least a year before relenting. [3][4] Its Charlotte office would be the victim of David Scott Ghantt and his confederates later that year. Once Ghantt loaded the large haul from the vaultwhich could have been close to $20 millioninto a truck, he planned to drive to a second location, then head straight to the airport and fly to Mexico. Will Mcintyre/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesMichele Chambers 1998 BMW for sale following the prosecutions of the Loomis Fargo heist conspirators. When he was done, the man drove off to a nearby printing press, where the money was distributed into private vehicles amongst a handful of people. 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. Here's whatGhantt says now about the heist that madethe "Cramer Mountain Hillbillies" famous and changed him forever. Hes way smarter than youd think he would be because he tends to play Bozos. After his release, Ghantt took a job as a construction worker and was eventually brought on as a consultant for the 2016 movie Masterminds, based on the Loomis Fargo Heist. A: I hate to think about what I'd be doing if I hadn't gotten caught. Guided by federal sentencing rules, prosecutors had requested a sentence of nine years for Michele Chambers. David Ghantt, a Gulf War veteran, had never been in trouble with the law. Campbell was receptive and brought the idea up to Ghantt. Two of them, Mike and Kim Goodman, are scheduled to be sentenced today. 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. Also charged were several innocent relatives that the robbers had enlisted to help get safety deposit boxes in various banks. An elderly American couple who went missing in Greece in late January this year were discovered dead in Taygetos mountain range. I mean, thats pretty much why I did it. Chambers would then occasionally wire Ghantt money and see to his basic financial needs; when "the heat was off," Ghantt was to re-enter the U.S. and the money would be split up among all of the co-conspirators. Zach Galifianakis played David Scott Ghantt, with other roles played byOwen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Leslie Jones, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon. A: Zach and I have a runningtext conversation going, but he's very busy. 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. He then began loading $17 million in unmarked bills inside a company van before driving away. 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. You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or www.Twitter.com/TheGazetteKevin. Explain: The scary part is that as soon as you put that little bit of money in the van, that there's no going back. Robbing the 7-Eleven and getting $40 bucks and a pack of Marlboros was not for me. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Instead, the two started hanging out on the beach together and became friends. It was nearly the perfect crime, but while Ghantt fled to Mexico to lay low, his partners lavish spendingand their own alleged plans for murderwould ultimately be the groups demise. Eventually, Ghantt called in from Mexico, seeking more money, and the FBI officially recognized Chambers as a co-conspirator. Most high schools offer a variety of history classes, so make sure youre taking the right ones for you. Chambers, who made an ill-fated decision to buy a home in the gated Cramer Mountain community with his newfound wealth, now runsa gym on Lowell-Bethesda Road. David GhanttRetweeted Iraqveteran8888 @Iraqveteran8888 Dec 9, 2022 Elect me President and I'll fire everyone, free Julian Assange, and pardon Edward Snowden. They received sentences and probation ranging from several years to 11 years and three months in federal prison for Steve Chambers, who was also fined more than $3,500,000. You can't get barbecue slaw in this hedonistic state (Florida), and there's nowhere to get real ice cream here like Tony's. The problem with the movie, however, is that the talented cast had no idea what the hell they were trying to do. David Ghantt had been a model employee for an armored car company before pulling off the second biggest cash heist in U.S. history, fleeing with more than . Meanwhile, Ghantt would take $50,000, as much as could legally be carried across the border without questions, and flee to Mexico. The next day, Steve and Michelle Chambers, Kelly Campbell, and four others were arrested.[6]. I got no real complaints, not at this point., The heist became the premise for the movie,Masterminds, released in September 2016. He was released in 2006. A Comprehensive Guide. When I interviewed for this job about three years ago, I told (my boss) that I had some dirt in my background, and if he went digging for it, he would find it. I think Zachs a hell of an actor. People still laugh when they think of the "velvet Elvis" Chambershad in his Cramer Mountain mansion, or how his former wife showed upat a local bankto deposit wads of cash that she assured the teller was not "drug money.". Q: Your troubles were self-inflicted, but you seem happy. The pair were both from the United States but had lived in the Peloponnese region of Greece for the past few years. 1) David Ghantt is underpaid and unhappy. ", The much-faster-than-expected economic recovery thats followed the easing of the coronavirus pandemic has produced several encouraging develo. Als u niet wilt dat wij en onze partners cookies en persoonsgegevens voor deze aanvullende doeleinden gebruiken, klik dan op 'Alles weigeren'. At the time it was thesecond largest bank heistin U.S. history. In February 2009 the Associated Press reported that Chambers had chosen to describe himself as "changed". I got to eat my meal perfectly, but every 5 minutes, someone wanted to shoot a selfie with Zach or an autograph from Zach. David Scott Ghantt: Vault Supervisor David Scott Ghantt was the vault supervisor at the regional branch of Loomis, Fargo & Co. in Charlotte, North Carolina. I felt cornered and one day the joking in the break room about robbing the place suddenly didnt seem so far-fetched.. For instance, after stealing $17.3 million $11 million of which was in $20 bills the conspirators had to leave behind $3 million in cash because they couldnt fit all of it in their cars. Ghantt believed the new employee would make a good replacement for his wife, but the feelings were not necessarily reciprocated. With a cast like this, and Emily Spivey (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Up All Night) as part of the writing team, Masterminds shouldnt be nearly as obnoxious and dull as it is, but nothing ever clicks. We were in Old Fortwhen they were shooting the movie and went out to eat. mesurer votre utilisation de nos sites et applications. Thirteen friends and family members were also charged with money laundering, as they had helped Ghantt, Chambers, Campbell, and the others deposit money illegally. Jandice : In any case, we got to talkin' afterwards, and I thought, well, that one's dead, this one's alive. 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. When the rest of the Loomis Fargo employees showed up the next morning and found that they couldnt open the vault, they called the police. David Ghantt spent 11 years in the military and now works as a film consultant on the side. 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. Chambers and his wife also made some cash payments on a few cars. Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here: PrepScholar 2013-2018. Finally, in March 1998, the FBI traced a call from Ghantts phone and he was arrested in Mexico. But in addition to a wife,. Elizabeth Poile was in 10th . At the time it was the second largest cash robbery ever to happen on US soil. He and his wife, Michelle, moved from their mobile home in Lincoln County to a luxury house in the wealthy Cramer Mountain section of Cramerton. Ghantt's spending in Mexico was extravagant at first. "Wells Fargo and Loomis forming armored car company", Last edited on 21 February 2023, at 16:45, Learn how and when to remove this template message, painting of Elvis Presley on black velvet, "FindACase | United States of America v. Steven Eugene Chambers", "The Unperfect Crime | New Dominion Pictures", "Sunday Evening/Late Night September 9, 2001", "Loomis Fargo heist: Q&A with guy who stole $17 million", "MASTERMINDS - Movie Production NotesCinemaReview.com", Ghantt and other gang members arrested in March 1998, Steven Chambers released from prison; announces he is a "retired criminal", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=October_1997_Loomis_Fargo_robbery&oldid=1140756292, Overcoming the mindset that led to the part David Ghantt played in the Loomis robbery and how he started on a new path was the subject of the book, Within days of the robbery, the case was depicted on the television criminal reporting show, An expanded two-hour special episode of the crime documentary series. He had stayed in a luxury hotel and paid for expensive food and activities such as scuba diving and parasailing. For the New York State assemblyman, see. BBC Motion Gallery. When Ghantt called Chambers to have the latter wire him more money, Chambers sent just a few thousand dollars. Thats the big thing. The chief running joke in Masterminds is the Prince Valiant 'do gamely sported by Galifianakis as David Ghantt, . That suspicion was immediately confirmed by a quick glance at the security camera footage that showed Ghantt doing a little dance after loading all the cash into the van. From the beginning, the FBIs prime suspect was David Ghantt. David Scott Ghantt Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM MASTERMIND MOVIE. ``I wish she'd gotten less. If you're trying to make yourself better today, that's all most people care about. Then you end up in a eight by ten cube and youre going to share that cube with two other people. To its credit, Masterminds does nail down the broad strokes of the real story, although there were a couple of noteworthy details the film left out. Ghantt, Chambers, and Campbell came up with the following plan: Ghantt would remain in the vault after his shift on the night of the heist, Oct. 4, 1997, and let his co-conspirators into the vault. Said Ghantt, one day life kinda slapped me in the face. 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. Campbell was another employee at Loomis Fargo and she and Ghantt quickly struck up a relationship, one that Campbell denies was ever romantic though FBI evidence says otherwise, and one that continued after she left the company. Ghantt and his compatriots, it turns out, had underestimated how bulky money is. A: People are very forgiving if you're open and honest right from the start. The move bought him a little extra time to make his escape. When she was a teacher, Hayley's students regularly scored in the 99th percentile thanks to her passion for making topics digestible and accessible. 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? As a vault supervisor for Loomis Fargo, David had access to the vaults and all the cash within. Authorities say Steve and Michele Chambers moved from a mobile home into a $635,000 house three weeks after the theft. 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. Nous, Yahoo, faisons partie de la famille de marques Yahoo. David Ghantt attends the after party for the Premiere Of Relativity Media's "Masterminds" on September 26, 2016 in Hollywood, California. Because Ghantt was the only employee who wasnt there that morning, he became the obvious suspect. An FBI criminal investigation ultimately resulted in the arrest and conviction of eight people directly involved in the heist, as well as sixteen others who had indirectly helped them, and the recovery of approximately 88% of the stolen money. Thats going to be your life for quite some time, typically. Victoria Beckham's family were on hand as she debuted her latest collection at Paris Fashion Week on March 3, including her and husband David Beckham's oldest child, Brooklyn Beckham . Authorities began to hone in on the group and put a wire tap on Campbell's phones. Q: How do you tell prospective employers you once stole $17 million? Wyatt Redd is a freelance writer from Nashville, Tennessee. (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). David Ghantt : [voice-over] Steve was a petty thief, mostly known for stealing tiny wheelchairs from pediatric hospitals. You'd be amazed at how much stress you can relieve yourself from in your life by just taking 20 or so minutes a day for yourself and just letting the world go. His wife, they said, got breast implants and used cash to purchase a 1998 BMW Z3 sports car. Chambers had no intention of following those rules, believing the FBI would never connect him to Ghantt. In 97 me and my wife were just barely scraping by, Ghantt recalled in Mondays episode. Harper Beckham and her dad David Beckham dressed in matching black outfits as they headed to a Paris Fashion Week event being thrown by Harper's mom and David's wife Victoria . David Bowie 's widow recently took to Instagram to post selfies, while promoting both her makeup brand and fashion line. Steve Chambers and his wife (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) were a little more difficult to connect to the heist. Day in and day out, he drives an armored vehicle,. The missing couple were identified as David Harrison Robinson and his wife Lucretia Robinson. Campbell and Chambers made themselves easy to catch, what with their lavish spending. Officers responded just after 5 a.m. Wednesday to an area near the intersection of Martin Luther King Drive and Carolyn Coleman Way and found , "The Wall Street Journal just so happened to have a supportive op-ed ready to publish within hours of the meeting. Galifianakis will play the armored car driver, David, who evades authorities, will be searching for his co-conspirators who betrayed him, Kelly (Kristen Wiig) and Steve (Owen Wilson). Of course, the FBI was already aware of Chambers and his free-spending ways, and the murder plot helped federal agents find Ghantt south of the border. The plan was for Ghantt to commit the robbery and then quickly leave the country for Mexico but to leave the bulk of the cash with Chambers.
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