Criminal Minds [Infographic]

Ross Smith http://www.fastlocksmithvancouver.com 6m 1,421 #criminalminds

The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.

For criminals, there are no crimes perhaps more enticing than bank robbery. The fame, notoriety, and financial rewards of robbing a bank are enough to entice hackers, gunmen and even politicians into attempting to rob a bank. Some of these bank robbers were successful in their attempts, and have never been found, while others had their elaborate schemes unraveled when they were later caught and prosecuted.

In 2003, before the US began bombing in Baghdad, Saddam Hussein sent his son Qusay to the Central Bank of Iraq ordering him to withdraw $1 Billion from the bank. US troops later found approximately $650 million in Saddam’s opulent palace, but the rest was never found.

An international gang tried to rob $300 – $400 Million from Sumitomo Bank in London, England but after attempting various money transfers, all of which failed, the trio was tracked down and prosecuted.

A Group of Thieves known as the ‘School of Turin’ succeeded in robbing $100 million from the Antwerp Diamond Center in Antwerp, Belgium. The group’s mastermind Leonardo Notarbartolo, spent nearly 2 years working in the district as a diamond dealer prior to the robbery. This extraordinary dedication to casing the scene of the crime was necessary to allow Notarbartolo to penetrate the 10 layers of security used to protect the diamonds.

In the below infographic, we have detailed some of the biggest and most fascinating bank robberies of the 21st century.

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CRIMINAL MINDS

BIGGEST BANK ROBBERIES OF THE 21^ST CENTURY

For criminals, there are no crimes perhaps more enticing thank bank robbery. The fame, notoriety, and financial rewards of robbing a bank are enough to entice hackers, gunmen, and even politicians into attempting to rob a bank. Robberies are committed left and right, usually for small amounts of money, however, some robbers choose to go-big-or-go-home.

CENTRAL BANK OF IRAQ

HOW MUCH WAS STOLEN

$1 BILLION

WHEN & WHERE

2003 – BAGHDAD, IRAQ

WHO DID THE CRIME

SADDAM HUSSEIN’S SON QUSAY

WERE THEY SUCCESSFUL IN ROBBING THE BANK

YES

DETAILS INVOLVED

• Before the United States began bombing Badhdad, Saddam Hussein sent his son Qusay to the bank ordering that the money was withdrawn. US troops later found approximately $650m in Saddam’s opulent palace, but the rest was never found.
• With Saddam’s execution and Qusay’s death in a fire fight with US troops, the remaining $350m may never be found.
• Bank officials state that Qusay and another unidentified man oversaw the cash, boxes of $100 bills, being loaded into trucks during a five-hour operation.

SUMITOMO BANK

HOW MUCH WAS STOLEN

$300 – $400 MILLION

WHEN & WHERE

2007 – LONDON, ENGLAND

WHO DID THE CRIME

AN INTERNATIONAL GANG

WERE THEY SUCCESSFUL IN ROBBING THE BANK

NO

DETAILS INVOLVED

• The plan almost worked after hackers used a USB memory stick to install “key-logger” software on worker’s computers to which they later downloaded user names and passwords from both private and business accounts of the bank.
• The experienced hackers almost outwitted security systems on the Swift (Society For Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) payments mechanism. But unfortunately for the gang, some of the electronic forms has been filled in incorrectly.
• After 23 unsuccessful attempts during the course of two days to wire the money, the fiasco unraveled.
• Chief of the bank, Kevin O’ Donoghue, 34, later explained that he had agreed to the heist after the master plan has already been formulated and his family was threatened.
• After attempting various money transfers, all of which failed, the trio was tracked down and prosecuted.

DAR ES SALAAM BANK

HOW MUCH WAS STOLEN

$282 MILLION

WHEN & WHERE

2007 – BAGHDAD, IRAQ

WHO DID THE CRIME

THREE SECURITY GUARDS, WHO WORKED AT THE PRIVATE DAR ES SALAAM BANK IN BAGHDAD’S KARRADA DISTRICT.

WERE THEY SUCCESSFUL IN ROBBING THE BANK

YES

DETAILS INVOLVED

• Following the raid officials were relatively quiet and unwilling to answer questions so not much ore is known about the heist except that the guards must have had connections to local militias in order to get passed so many check points.
• The raid got very little coverage in the media.

ANTWERP DIAMOND CENTER

HOW MUCH WAS STOLEN

$100 MILLION

WHEN & WHERE

2003 – ANTWERP, BELGIUM

WHO DID THE CRIME

A GROUP OF THIEVES KNOWN AS THE SCHOOL OF TURIN

WERE THEY SUCCESSFUL IN ROBBING THE BANK

YES

DETAILS INVOLVED

• The group’s mastermind Leonardo Notarbartolo, spent nearly 2 years working in the district as a diamond dealer prior to the robbery.
• This extraordinary dedication to casing the scene of the crime was necessary to allow Notarbartolo to penetrate the 10 layers of security used to protect the diamonds.
• During the robbery, the thieves beat security cameras, motion detectors, a drill-proof steel door, and a lock with more than 100 million possible combinations to gain access to the vault, all without setting off the alarm.
• Antwerp police later caught them but the $100 million worth of diamonds and other gems has never been found.

THE KENT SECURITAS DEPOT

HOW MUCH WAS STOLEN

$92.5 MILLION

WHEN & WHERE

2006 – KENT, ENGLAND

WHO DID THE CRIME

A CRIMINAL GANG

WERE THEY SUCCESSFUL IN ROBBING THE BANK

YES

DETAILS INVOLVED

• The Kent Securitas robbery was the largest cash robbery in UK history, which took place when the manager of the depot was abducted.
• When he pulled over for an unmarked police vehicle with blue flashing lights, a man approached the vehicle and made the manager enter the police car.
• He was then handcuffed by other gang members in the car.
• The robbers then proceeded to hold the manager’s wife and son hostage, as the gang members then proceeded to rob the depot of the equivalent of $92.5 million.

BANCO CENTRAL

HOW MUCH WAS STOLEN

$71.6 MILLION

WHEN & WHERE

2005 – FORTALEZA, BRAZIL

WHO DID THE CRIME

A GANG OF CRIMINALS

WERE THEY SUCCESSFUL IN ROBBING THE BANK

YES

DETAILS INVOLVED

• Three months before the burglary, a gang of criminals rented an empty house in the centre of Fortaleza, just two blocks away from the bank.
• Over the next few weeks, and under the pretense that the building was a plant shop, the burglars excavated a 78m (256ft) tunnel to the bank’s fault.
• On the final weekend, they broke through the reinforced concrete and evaded the security systems to make off with $71.6m.
• So far, authorities have only recovered $3.8m of the notes.

NORTHERN BANK ROBBERY

HOW MUCH WAS STOLEN

£26.5 MILLION (AN ESTIMATED $51.6 MILLION USD)

WHEN & WHERE

2004 – BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND

WHO DID THE CRIME

A LARGE, PROFICIENT GROUP OF THIEVES

WERE THEY SUCCESSFUL IN ROBBING THE BANK

YES

DETAILS INVOLVED

• The UK government and Ireland police all claimed the robbery was perpetrated by the IRA, although this is denied by the IRA and their leadership.
• What is known is that, by holding the families of the bank officers as hostages, the robbers were able to masquerade as bank officials and make off with the money.
• As of 2009, the case is still being prosecuted and new conspirators are being charged.

BANK OF IRELAND

HOW MUCH WAS STOLEN

$9 MILLION

WHEN & WHERE

2009 – DUBLIN, IRELAND

WHO DID THE CRIME

A CRIMINAL GANG

WERE THEY SUCCESSFUL IN ROBBING THE BANK

YES

DETAILS INVOLVED

• Criminals included a junior bank employee who kidnapped another employee and forced him to remove $9 million in cash from the bank as his girlfriend and two others were held hostage.
• Seven people were later arrested, all believed to be members of a well-known Dublin gang.
• €1.8 million of the stolen cash was located the next day, scattered across Dublin, and in 2010 the man who claimed he was held hostage was also arrested on the suspicion that the robbery had been an inside job.

THE AGRICULTURAL BANK OF CHINA

HOW MUCH WAS STOLEN

$6.7 MILLION

WHEN & WHERE

2007 – HANDAN BRANCH OF THE ABC IN HEBEI PROVINCE, CHINA

WHO DID THE CRIME

TWO VAULT MANAGERS WITH THE HELP OF TWO SECURITY GUARDS FROM THE BRANCH

WERE THEY SUCCESSFUL IN ROBBING THE BANK

YES

DETAILS INVOLVED

• Purchasing tickets for the Chinese lottery with money they had stolen from the bank (with the intent of winning it and more back from gambling), one manager surprisingly managed it once, but the second manager failed at the second attempt.
• Soon thereafter other branch managers discovered the missing money and notified police and those involved were arrested.
• The heist also included 3 other accomplices: a landlord, a cab driver, and a car saleswoman.
• All accomplices were found and arrested and the two bank managers were later executed for their displays of bank robbing bravado.

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