July 18, 2022, 9:32 AM UTC. For example, from a citizen in California came the suggestion that the loot might be concealed in the Atlantic Ocean near Boston. Five bullets which had missed their mark were found in a building nearby. 26 million (equivalent to 93.3 million in 2021 [1]) worth of gold bullion, diamonds, and cash was stolen from a warehouse operated by Brink's-Mat, a former joint . The robbery of 26m of gold bars from a warehouse near Heathrow airport is one of Britain's most notorious - and biggest - heists. All but Pino and Banfield stepped out and proceeded into the playground to await Costas signal. The thieves quickly bound the employees and began hauling away the loot. Those killed in the. The Boston underworld rumbled with reports that an automobile had pulled alongside OKeefes car in Dorchester, Massachusetts, during the early morning hours of June 5. By fixing this time as close as possible to the minute at which the robbery was to begin, the robbers would have alibis to cover their activities up to the final moment. Between 1950 and 1954, the underworld occasionally rumbled with rumors that pressure was being exerted upon Boston hoodlums to contribute money for these criminals legal fight against the charges in Pennsylvania. The ninth man had long been a principal suspect. At approximately 9:50 p.m., the details of this incident were furnished to the Baltimore Field Office of the FBI. The police officer said he had been talking to McGinnis first, and Pino arrived later to join them. The truck pieces were concealed in fiber bags when found. If passing police had looked closer early that Saturday morning on November 26, 1983, they would have noticed the van was weighted down below its wheel arches with three tons of gold. He was paroled in the fall of 1944 and remained on parole through March 1954 when misfortune befell him. The other gang members would not talk. Two other men, ex-Brink's guard Thomas O'Connor and unemployed teacher Charles McCormick, were acquitted. He had been released on parole from the Norfolk, Massachusetts, Prison Colony on August 22, 1949only five months before the robbery. An automobile identified as the car used in the escape was located near a Boston hospital, and police officers concealed themselves in the area. Fat John and the business associate of the man arrested in Baltimore were located and interviewed on the morning of June 4, 1956. Pino had been questioned as to his whereabouts on the evening of January 17, 1950, and he provided a good alibi. Adolph Maffie, who had been convicted of income tax violation in June 1954, was released from the Federal Corrections Institution at Danbury, Connecticut, on January 30, 1955. The results were negative. Many tips were received from anonymous persons. A detailed search for additional weapons was made at the Mystic River. The truck found at the dump had been reported stolen by a Ford dealer near Fenway Park in Boston on November 3, 1949. A passerby might notice that it was missing. Using the outside door key they had previously obtained, the men quickly entered and donned their masks. Two other Baltimore police officers who were walking along the street nearby noted this maneuver. Pino, Costa, Maffie, Geagan, Faherty, Richardson, and Baker received life sentences for robbery, two-year sentences for conspiracy to steal, and sentences of eight years to ten years for breaking and entering at night. The hoodlum was taken to police headquarters where a search of his person disclosed he was carrying more than $1,000, including $860 in musty, worn bills. Both had served prison sentences, and both were well known to underworld figures on the East Coast. The descriptions and serial numbers of these weapons were carefully noted since they might prove a valuable link to the men responsible for the crime. There had been three attempts on his life in June 1954, and his frustrated assassins undoubtedly were waiting for him to return to Boston. During the period in which Pinos deportation troubles were mounting, OKeefe completed his sentence at Towanda, Pennsylvania. A detective examines the Brinks vault after the theft. The full details of this important development were immediately furnished to the FBI Office in Boston. They stole 26 million in gold bullion - the biggest robbery of . Each man also was given a pistol and a Halloween-type mask. Subsequently, OKeefe left his carand the $200,000in a garage on Blue Hill Avenue in Boston. Well-meaning persons throughout the country began sending the FBI tips and theories which they hoped would assist in the investigation. During questioning by the FBI, the money changer stated that he was in business as a mason contractor with another man on Tremont Street in Boston. From their prison cells, they carefully followed the legal maneuvers aimed at gaining them freedom. The defense immediately filed motions which would delay or prevent the trial. One Massachusetts racketeer, a man whose moral code mirrored his long years in the underworld, confided to the agents who were interviewing him, If I knew who pulled the job, I wouldnt be talking to you now because Id be too busy trying to figure a way to lay my hands on some of the loot.. OKeefes reputation for nerve was legend. Since he claimed to have met no one and to have stopped nowhere during his walk, he actually could have been doing anything on the night of the crime. On November, 26, 1983, three tonnes of solid gold bullion was taken by six armed robbers from the Brink's-Mat security depot near . On the evening of January 17, 1950, employees of the security firm Brinks, Inc., in Boston, Massachusetts, were closing for the day, returning sacks of undelivered cash, checks, and other. One of the biggest robberies in U.S. history happened here. In the end, the perfect crime had a perfect endingfor everyone but the robbers. In December 1954, he indicated to the agents that Pino could look for rough treatment if he (OKeefe) again was released. On November 26, 1983, six armed robbers broke into the Brink-Mat security depot near Heathrow Airport in hopes of stealing 3.2 million in cash. All five employees had been forced at gunpoint to lie face down on the floor. All had been published in Boston between December 4, 1955, and February 21, 1956. Each of them had surreptitiously entered the premises on several occasions after the employees had left for the day. It was almost the perfect crime. Any doubts that the Brinks gang had that the FBI was on the right track in its investigation were allayed when the federal grand jury began hearings in Boston on November 25, 1952, concerning this crime. Reports had been received alleging that he had held up several gamblers in the Boston area and had been involved in shakedowns of bookies. OKeefes racketeer associate, who allegedly had assisted him in holding Costa for ransom and was present during the shooting scrape between OKeefe and Baker, disappeared on August 3, 1954. Richardson had participated with Faherty in an armed robbery in February 1934. The robbers carefully planned routine inside Brinks was interrupted only when the attendant in the adjoining Brinks garage sounded the buzzer. Because the money in the cooler was in various stages of decomposition, an accurate count proved most difficult to make. Two died before they were tried. The theft occurred in July when a Brink's big rig paused at a Grapevine truck stop while transporting jewelry from a Northern California trade show to the Southland. Before the robbery was carried out, all of the participants were well acquainted with the Brinks premises. This cooler contained more than $57,700, including $51,906 which was identifiable as part of the Brinks loot. OKeefe was enraged that the pieces of the stolen Ford truck had been placed on the dump near his home, and he generally regretted having become associated at all with several members of the gang. Apparently, they had planned a leisurely trip with an abundance of extracurricular activities.. Immediately upon leaving, the gang loaded the loot into the truck that was parked on Prince Street near the door. Special agents subsequently interviewed Costa and his wife, Pino and his wife, the racketeer, and OKeefe. After the truck parts were found, additional suspicion was attached to these men. FBI.gov is an official site of the U.S. Department of Justice. Examination revealed the cause of his death to be a brain tumor and acute cerebral edema. On August 30, he was taken into custody as a suspicious person. Shortly after these two guns were found, one of them was placed in a trash barrel and was taken to the city dump. The last false approach took place on January 16, 1950the night before the robbery. OKeefe claimed that he left his hotel room in Boston at approximately 7:00 p.m. on January 17, 1950. All were denied, and the impaneling of the jury was begun on August 7. David Ghantt was the vault supervisor for Loomis, Fargo & Co. armored cars, which managed the transportation of large sums of cash between banks in North Carolina. The trial of these eight men began on the morning of August 6, 1956, before Judge Feliz Forte in the Suffolk County Courthouse in Boston. He was not involved in the Brinks robbery. As this bag was being emptied later that evening, the glasses were discovered and destroyed by the gang. Due to his criminal record, the Immigration and Naturalization Service instituted proceedings in 1941 to deport him. While the others stayed at the house to make a quick count of the loot, Pino and Faherty departed. The BBC has greenlit a documentary telling the real story of the 26M ($31.2M) Brink's-Mat robbery spotlighted in Neil Forsyth drama The Gold. Next year January 2023 to be precise will mark 30 years since the Brink's depot in Rochester was looted for $7.4 million, then the fifth largest armored car company heist in the country. While some gang members remained in the building to ensure that no one detected the operation, other members quickly obtained keys to fit the locks. In the succeeding two weeks, nearly 1,200 prospective jurors were eliminated as the defense counsel used their 262 peremptory challenges. Three and one-half hours later, the verdict had been reached. It was used by the defense counsel in preparing a 294-page brief that was presented to the Massachusetts State Supreme Court. As the robbers sped from the scene, a Brinks employee telephoned the Boston Police Department. Even fearing the new bills might be linked with the crime, McGinnis suggested a process for aging the new money in a hurry.. While action to appeal the convictions was being taken on their behalf, the eight men were removed to the State prison at Walpole, Massachusetts. In the fall of 1955, an upper court overruled the conviction on the grounds that the search and seizure of the still were illegal.). Tarr was doomed to the role of unlucky Brinks driver. (Burke was arrested by FBI agents at Folly Beach, South Carolina, on August 27, 1955, and he returned to New York to face murder charges which were outstanding against him there. Instead, they found three tonnes of gold bullion. It was given to him in a suitcase that was transferred to his car from an automobile occupied by McGinnis and Banfield. During an interview with him in the jail in Springfield, Massachusetts, in October 1954, special agents found that the plight of the missing Boston racketeer was weighing on OKeefes mind. The following is a brief account of the data which OKeefe provided the special agents in January 1956: Although basically the brain child of Pino, the Brinks robbery was the product of the combined thought and criminal experience of men who had known each other for many years. At that time, Pino approached OKeefe and asked if he wanted to be in on the score. His close associate, Stanley Gusciora, had previously been recruited, and OKeefe agreed to take part. Apparently suspicious, OKeefe crouched low in the front seat of his car as the would-be assassins fired bullets that pierced the windshield. Sentenced to serve from five to seven years for this offense, he was released from prison in September 1941. On January 11, 1956, the United States Attorney at Boston authorized special agents of the FBI to file complaints charging the 11 criminals with (1) conspiracy to commit theft of government property, robbery of government property, and bank robbery by force and violence and by intimidation, (2) committing bank robbery on January 17, 1950, and committing an assault on Brinks employees during the taking of the money, and (3) conspiracy to receive and conceal money in violation of the Bank Robbery and Theft of Government Property Statutes. The Gold: The Inside Story will hear from the . The. At the time of the Brinks robbery, Geagan was on parole, having been released from prison in July 1943, after serving eight years of a lengthy sentence for armed robbery and assault. As the loot was being placed in bags and stacked between the second and third doors leading to the Prince Street entrance, a buzzer sounded. The record of the state trial covered more than 5,300 pages. This is good money, he said, but you cant pass it around here in Boston.. For the Rockland County community, the Brink's Robbery rises to that historic standard. His case had gone to the highest court in the land. Although he had been known to carry a gun, burglaryrather than armed robberywas his criminal specialty, and his exceptional driving skill was an invaluable asset during criminal getaways. McGinnis previously had discussed sending a man to the United States Patent Office in Washington, D.C., to inspect the patents on the protective alarms used in the Brinks building. McAvoy had attempted to reach a settlement with prosecutors in the case when he offered to repay his share, but by that time the money was gone. Serious consideration originally had been given to robbing Brinks in 1947, when Brinks was located on Federal Street in Boston. He advised that he and his associate shared office space with an individual known to him only as Fat John. According to the Boston hoodlum, on the night of June 1, 1956, Fat John asked him to rip a panel from a section of the wall in the office, and when the panel was removed, Fat John reached into the opening and removed the cover from a metal container. Through the interviews of persons in the vicinity of the Brinks offices on the evening of January 17, 1950, the FBI learned that a 1949 green Ford stake-body truck with a canvas top had been parked near the Prince Street door of Brinks at approximately the time of the robbery. Somehow the criminals had opened at least threeand possibly fourlocked doors to gain entrance to the second floor of Brinks, where the five employees were engaged in their nightly chore of checking and storing the money collected from Brinks customers that day. Occasionally, an offender who was facing a prison term would boast that he had hot information. (Geagan and Richardson, known associates of other members of the gang, were among the early suspects. They moved with a studied precision which suggested that the crime had been carefully planned and rehearsed in the preceding months. In the new series, Tallchief tells the true story of the $3.1 million dollar Vegas heist she committed with her boyfriend Roberto Solis. The Brinks Job, 1950. The criminal explained that he was in the contracting business in Boston and that in late March or early April 1956, he stumbled upon a plastic bag containing this money while he was working on the foundation of a house. Almost immediately, the gang began laying new plans. While the officer and amusement arcade operator were talking to him, the hoodlum reached into his pocket, quickly withdrew his hand again and covered his hand with a raincoat he was carrying. In pursuing the underworld rumors concerning the principal suspects in the Brinks case, the FBI succeeded in identifying more probable members of the gang. Pino would take the locks to the mans shop, and keys would be made for them. The. Well-known Boston hoodlums were picked up and questioned by police. Democrat and Chronicle. At the outset, very few facts were available to the investigators. Shakur, the stepfather of hip-hop star . That prison term, together with Pinos conviction in March 1928 for carnal abuse of a girl, provided the basis for the deportation action. During the regular exercise period, Burke separated himself from the other prisoners and moved toward a heavy steel door leading to the solitary confinement section. Despite the lack of evidence and witnesses upon which court proceedings could be based, as the investigation progressed there was little doubt that OKeefe had been one of the central figures in the Brinks robbery. The hideout also was found to contain more than $5,000 in coins. Even with the recovery of this money in Baltimore and Boston, more than $1,150,000 of currency taken in the Brinks robbery remained unaccounted for. The Boston hoodlum told FBI agents in Baltimore that he accepted six of the packages of money from Fat John. The following day (June 2, 1956), he left Massachusetts with $4,750 of these bills and began passing them. (Costa, who was at his lookout post, previously had arrived in a Ford sedan which the gang had stolen from behind the Boston Symphony Hall two days earlier.). The Great Brink's Robbery was an armed robbery of the Brink's building in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1950. It was positively concluded that the packages of currency had been damaged prior to the time they were wrapped in the pieces of newspaper; and there were indications that the bills previously had been in a canvas container which was buried in ground consisting of sand and ashes. A search of the hoodlums room in a Baltimore hotel (registered to him under an assumed name) resulted in the location of $3,780 that the officers took to police headquarters. Pino was known in the underworld as an excellent case man, and it was said that the casing of the Brinks offices bore his trademark.. The discovery of this money in the Tremont Street offices resulted in the arrests of both Fat John and the business associate of the criminal who had been arrested in Baltimore. Even if released, he thought, his days were numbered. Had the ground not been frozen, the person or persons who abandoned the bags probably would have attempted to bury them. (The arrests of Faherty and Richardson also resulted in the indictment of another Boston hoodlum as an accessory after the fact). A Secret Service agent, who had been summoned by the Baltimore officers, arrived while the criminal was being questioned at the police headquarters, and after examining the money found in the bill changers possession, he certified that it was not counterfeit. Interviews with him on June 3 and 4, 1956, disclosed that this 31-year-old hoodlum had a record of arrests and convictions dating back to his teens and that he had been conditionally released from a federal prison camp less than a year beforehaving served slightly more than two years of a three-year sentence for transporting a falsely made security interstate. A systematic check of current and past Brinks employees was undertaken; personnel of the three-story building housing the Brinks offices were questioned; inquiries were made concerning salesmen, messengers, and others who had called at Brinks and might know its physical layout as well as its operational procedures. After a period of hostility, he began to display a friendly attitude. He was not with the gang when the robbery took place. On the afternoon of August 28, 1954, Trigger Burke escaped from the Suffolk County jail in Boston, where he was being held on the gun-possession charge arising from the June 16 shooting of OKeefe. Much of the money taken from the money changer appeared to have been stored a long time. Thorough inquiries were made concerning the disposition of the bags after their receipt by the Massachusetts firm. A second shooting incident occurred on the morning of June 14, 1954, in Dorchester, Massachusetts, when OKeefe and his racketeer friend paid a visit to Baker. OKeefe had left his hotel at approximately 7:00 p.m. Pino and Baker separately decided to go out at 7:00 p.m. Costa started back to the motor terminal at about 7:00 p.m. Other principal suspects were not able to provide very convincing accounts of their activities that evening. After completing its hearings on January 9, 1953, the grand jury retired to weigh the evidence. On November 26 1983, six armed robbers entered the Brink's-Mat security warehouse at the Heathrow International Trading Estate.