Some people walk around with the fantasy of pulling off a “once in a lifetime” heist that will reward them with millions of dollars. Luckily, most of these people are sane and would not carry these thoughts over into an inspired action. However, there have been a few men and women out there who for whatever reason decided to go for it. And while most of them were caught, a lucky few managed to escape forever with the cash. Let’s take a look at the top 10 most expensive heists.
10. Harry Winston: $108 Million
On December 5th, 2008, four armed men dressed like women entered Harry Winston and stole $108 million dollars’ worth of jewelry. And they did all of these without firing a single shot. They cleaned the entire place out and the next day, the Harry Winston stock fell by almost 10%. The store had been robbed in an earlier year and those thieves had managed to escape with almost 10 million Euros. One would think about hiring a few armed security guards should this become a prime target for thieves.
9. Antwerp Diamond Center: $100 Million
On February 16th, 2003, over 100 million dollars was stolen from the Antwerp Diamond Center. The haul was so massive that the thieves could not carry all of it out of the vault. However, they still managed to escape with a whopping 123 deposit boxes. The leader of the group, Leonardo Notabartolo, had 30 years of stealing under his belt and had 4 other people involved in this particular heist.
8. United California Bank Robbery: $30 Million
On March 24th 1972, over $30 million dollars were stolen from the United California Bank. Since it did occur back in 1972, the amount of money stolen would be equal to about $100 million dollars today. This goes to show you how large this heist actually was. A group of seven men broke into the bank and stole everything from the safe deposit vault. The leader of the group, Amil Dinsio, was eventually caught by the F.B.I., along with the remainder of the group.
7. Schiphol Airport: $118 Million
Few people would think that an airport would be an ideal place to pull off a heist. Simply put, there is too much security. Well, that’s not what a group of bandits thought when they decided to steal over $108 million dollars from the Schiphol Airport on February 25th, 2005. The execution for this heist was flawless and it was evident that it had taken a lot of methodical planning to pull off in such a manner. Several men have been arrested who were believed to have been associated with the robbery and the police do suspect that this was an inside job.
6. British Bank of the Middle East: $100 Million
In the 1970s, a terrorist group that was led by a man named Yasser Arafat arrived at the British Bank of the Middle East and made off with over $100 million dollars. They stole stocks, currency, jewels, and even gold. They managed to break into the bank by blasting a hole in a near-by building. And by using the help of a locksmith, they managed to open the vault door where they went on to remove its contents for over two days. While not all of the items in the heist were found, a few of the stocks were returned back to their owners.
5. Knightsbridge Security Deposit: $174 Million
Imagine making off with close to $175 million dollars and never being seen or heard from again. While some people see this as a fairy tale, a man named Valerio Veccei actually made it happen on July 12th, 1987 in the UK. Unfortunately, the police were not notified until nearly an hour after the robbery had begun. Because of this, Valerio and his team had plenty of time to get away. He was sentenced to 22 years behind bars and later died in 2000 after getting into a gun fight with police.
4. Baghdad Bank: $282 Million
On July 12th, 2007, one of the most expensive heists of all time happened at the Baghdad Bank, where close to $300 million dollars was stolen. It was believed that the three guards watching the loot had made off with the whopping haul. And to this day, it is still unclear why the bank was holding such a large amount of cash. Nobody has been brought to justice for this crime and no money has been recovered.
3. Boston Museum: $300 Million
Two men dressed as police officers walked into the Boston Museum on March 18th, 1990, and walked away with $300 million dollars. They had managed to convince two of the security guards at the museum that they were responding to an emergency call. When the “officers” made their way onto the premises, they handcuffed the guards in a basement. Over the next 81 minutes, the two men stole 12 pieces of art that were worth $300 million dollars.
2. City Bonds: $292 Million
A man named John Goddard got away with a briefcase containing about $292 million dollars’ worth of bearer bonds. His did this on May 2nd, 1990 in London. A man named Keith Cheeseman was the only person suspected of being involved in the crime and he was arrested and put away for almost seven years. All of the bonds were found except for 2 and it is still surprising to think that one of the most expensive heists of all time was conducted with just a knife.
1. Central Bank of Iraq: $1 Billion
Yes, you read that correctly: Over one billion dollars was stolen from the Central Bank of Iraq on March 18th, 2003. Was this robbery a result of careful planning? Or was it a result of brute force? It was actually quite simple: Saddam Hussein sent his son to make a withdrawal from the bank on behalf of a handwritten note. His son sat there as boxes filled with one hundred dollar bills were given to him. The entire operation took about five-hours. However, it didn’t get him very far as he was later killed by US troops. $350 million dollars was never recovered and is still considered lost to this day.