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. Two died before they were tried. The Brink's-Mat robbery remains to this day one of Britain's biggest and most audacious heists. On August 1, 1954, he was arrested at Leicester, Massachusetts, and turned over to the Boston police who held him for violating probation on a gun-carrying charge. They did not expect to find the Aladdin's cave to contain some 26m in gold bullion and diamonds that they stumbled upon. 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. This was a question which preyed heavily upon their minds. The. Tarr was doomed to the role of unlucky Brinks driver. The new proceedings were based upon the fact that Pino had been arrested in December 1948 for a larceny involving less than $100. Even after these convictions, OKeefe and Gusciora continued to seek their release. Shortly after these two guns were found, one of them was placed in a trash barrel and was taken to the city dump. In addition, McGinnis was named in two other complaints involving the receiving and concealing of the loot. ), (After serving his sentence, Fat John resumed a life of crime. Before the robbery was carried out, all of the participants were well acquainted with the Brinks premises. Geagan claimed that he spent the evening at home and did not learn of the Brinks robbery until the following day. The full details of this important development were immediately furnished to the FBI Office in Boston. Prior to this time, McGinnis had been at his liquor store. Brinks customers were contacted for information regarding the packaging and shipping materials they used. He claimed he had been drinking in various taverns from approximately 5:10 p.m. until 7:45 p.m. Although the attendant did not suspect that the robbery was taking place, this incident caused the criminals to move more swiftly. In a report which was released on January 16, 1953, the grand jury disclosed that its members did not feel they possessed complete, positive information as to the identify of the participants in the Brinks robbery because (1) the participants were effectively disguised; (2) there was a lack of eyewitnesses to the crime itself; and (3) certain witnesses refused to give testimony, and the grand jury was unable to compel them to do so. The police officer said he had been talking to McGinnis first, and Pino arrived later to join them. Later, when he counted the money, he found that the suitcase contained $98,000. Stanley Gusciora (pictured left), who had been transferred to Massachusetts from Pennsylvania to stand trial, was placed under medical care due to weakness, dizziness, and vomiting. There were the rope and adhesive tape used to bind and gag the employees and a chauffeurs cap that one of the robbers had left at the crime scene. The missing racketeers automobile was found near his home; however, his whereabouts remain a mystery. They did not expect to. Henry Baker, another veteran criminal who was rumored to be kicking in to the Pennsylvania defense fund, had spent a number of years of his adult life in prison. In addition, McGinnis received other sentences of two years, two and one-half to three years, and eight to ten years. 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. On October 20, 1981, a Brinks Company armored car was robbed of $1,589,000 in cash that it was preparing to transfer from the Nanuet National Bank in Clarkstown, N.Y. One of the guards of the. On June 2, 1950, OKeefe and Gusciora left Boston by automobile for the alleged purpose of visiting the grave of Guscioras brother in Missouri. From their prison cells, they carefully followed the legal maneuvers aimed at gaining them freedom. As this bag was being emptied later that evening, the glasses were discovered and destroyed by the gang. Neither Pino nor McGinnis was known to be the type of hoodlum who would undertake so potentially dangerous a crime without the best strong-arm support available. The Great Brinks Robbery was the biggest armed robbery in U.S. history at the time. Thieves vanished after stealing $2.7 million, leaving few clues. During this operation, a pair of glasses belonging to one of the employees was unconsciously scooped up with other items and stuffed into a bag of loot. Two days after Christmas of 1955, FBI agents paid another visit to OKeefe. The group were led . 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. His records showed that he had worked on the offices early in April 1956 under instructions of Fat John. The loot could not have been hidden behind the wall panel prior to that time. The serial numbers of several of these bills were furnished to the FBI Office in Baltimore. This was in their favor. Their plan was to enter the Brinks building and take a truck containing payrolls. 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 material to the company safe on the second floor. This phase of the investigation greatly disturbed many gamblers. During 1955, OKeefe carefully pondered his position. After nearly three years of investigation, the government hoped that witnesses or participants who had remained mute for so long a period of time might find their tongues before the grand jury. 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. Had the ground not been frozen, the person or persons who abandoned the bags probably would have attempted to bury them. The alibi was strong, but not conclusive. As the investigation developed and thousands of leads were followed to dead ends, the broad field of possible suspects gradually began to narrow. Extensive efforts were made to detect pencil markings and other notations on the currency that the criminals thought might be traceable to Brinks. The heist. During the period in which Pinos deportation troubles were mounting, OKeefe completed his sentence at Towanda, Pennsylvania. The Brinks Job, 1950. None proved fruitful. Immediately upon leaving, the gang loaded the loot into the truck that was parked on Prince Street near the door. After careful checking, the FBI eliminated eight of the suspects. Interviewed again on December 28, 1955, he talked somewhat more freely, and it was obvious that the agents were gradually winning his respect and confidence. The gang at that time included all of the participants in the January 17, 1950, robbery except Henry Baker. 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. The thieves quickly bound the employees and began hauling away the loot. During these approaches, Costaequipped with a flashlight for signaling the other men was stationed on the roof of a tenement building on Prince Street overlooking Brinks. Banfield had been a close associate of McGinnis for many years. A man of modest means in Bayonne, New Jersey, was reported to be spending large sums of money in night clubs, buying new automobiles, and otherwise exhibiting newly found wealth. The Great Brinks Robbery of 1950 met all of these requirementsa great pile of cash disappeared with no evidence, leads, or suspects. Evidently resigned to long years in prison or a short life on the outside, OKeefe grew increasingly bitter toward his old associates. 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. In the series Edwyn Cooper (played by Dominic Cooper) is a lawyer who gets involved in the robbery, deciding he wants to earn some big bucks. This cooler contained more than $57,700, including $51,906 which was identifiable as part of the Brinks loot. He claimed there was a large roll of bills in his hotel roomand that he had found that money, too. A gang of 11 men set out on a meticulous 18-month quest to rob the Brinks headquarters in Boston, the home-base of the legendary private security firm. The other keys in their possession enabled them to proceed to the second floor where they took the five Brinks employees by surprise. As a guard moved to intercept him, Burke started to run. When this case was continued until April 1, 1954, OKeefe was released on $1,500 bond. If local hoodlums were involved, it was difficult to believe that McGinnis could be as ignorant of the crime as he claimed. 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.. This phase of the investigation was pursued exhaustively. From the size of the loot and the number of men involved, it was logical that the gang might have used a truck. The truck pieces were concealed in fiber bags when found. He had been short changed $2,000. Each man also was given a pistol and a Halloween-type mask. Information received from this individual linked nine well-known hoodlums with the crime. 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. As a cooperative measure, the information gathered by the FBI in the Brinks investigation was made available to the District Attorney of Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Both men remained mute following their arrests. OKeefe paid his respects to other members of the Brinks gang in Boston on several occasions in the spring of 1954, and it was obvious to the agents handling the investigation that he was trying to solicit money. 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.. On June 17, 1954, the Boston police arrested Elmer Trigger Burke and charged him with possession of a machine gun. And what of McGinnis himself? In addition to the general descriptions received from the Brinks employees, the investigators obtained several pieces of physical evidence. After the truck parts were found, additional suspicion was attached to these men. 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. An official website of the United States government. 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. He told the interviewing agents that he trusted Maffie so implicitly that he gave the money to him for safe keeping. 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. As the truck sped away with nine members of the gangand Costa departed in the stolen Ford sedanthe Brinks employees worked themselves free and reported the crime. A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. In a series of interviews during the succeeding days, OKeefe related the full story of the Brinks robbery. Early in June 1956, however, an unexpected break developed. The door opened, and an armed masked man wearing a prison guard-type uniform commanded the guard, Back up, or Ill blow your brains out. Burke and the armed man disappeared through the door and fled in an automobile parked nearby. A roll of waterproof adhesive tape used to gag and bind bank employees that was left at the scene of the crime. It unleashed a trail of eight murders and a global hunt for. Many tips were received from anonymous persons. At the time of his arrest, there also was a charge of armed robbery outstanding against him in Massachusetts. To muffle their footsteps, one of the gang wore crepe-soled shoes, and the others wore rubbers. A few weeks later, OKeefe retrieved his share of the loot. The Transit's heavily armed occupants had stolen the bullion less than an hour earlier from the Brink's-Mat security warehouse 12 miles away at Heathrow. (Geagan, who was on parole at the time, left the truck before it arrived at the home in Roxbury where the loot was unloaded. On February 5, 1950, however, a police officer in Somerville, Massachusetts, recovered one of the four revolvers that had been taken by the robbers. Mutulu Shakur, born Jeral Wayne Williams, is serving a 60-year sentence for organizing multiple bank and armored car robberies in New York and Connecticut. 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 . At the Prison Colony, Baker was serving two concurrent terms of four to ten years, imposed in 1944 for breaking and entering and larceny and for possession of burglar tools. At the time of Bakers release in 1949, Pino was on hand to drive him back to Boston. What Happened To The Brinks Mat Robbery? 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. During the period immediately following the Brinks robbery, the heat was on OKeefe and Gusciora. Members of the Purple Gang of the 1930s found that there was renewed interest in their activities. OKeefe wore crepe-soled shoes to muffle his footsteps; the others wore rubbers. The robbers carefully planned routine inside Brinks was interrupted only when the attendant in the adjoining Brinks garage sounded the buzzer. Even fearing the new bills might be linked with the crime, McGinnis suggested a process for aging the new money in a hurry.. Three years later, Great Train Robber. The heist happened on Prince Street in Boston's North End on Jan. 17, 1950. Soon the underworld rang with startling news concerning this pair. Many of the details had previously been obtained during the intense six-year investigation. He was granted a full pardon by the acting governor of Massachusetts. The Brink's-Mat robbery the name alone is enough to spark excitement in viewers of a certain age, such as your correspondent became one of the most celebrated cases, and convoluted plots . Burlap money bags recovered in a Boston junk yard from the robbery, Some of the recovered money from the robbery. This man, subsequently identified as a small-time Boston underworld figure, was located and questioned. Born in Italy in 1907, Pino was a young child when he entered the United States, but he never became a naturalized citizen. In the years following the infamous 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery, many of the criminals and police alike were killed, leading to speculation there might be . In a film-style series of events, criminals broke into the. Terry Perkins celebrated his 67th birthday on the weekend of the Hatton Garden job, exactly 32 years after he'd taken part in another gigantic Easter raid: the 6 million armed robbery of a London security depot. Even in their jail cells, however, they showed no respect for law enforcement. The trip from the liquor store in Roxbury to the Brinks offices could be made in about 15 minutes. An acetylene torch had been used to cut up the truck, and it appeared that a sledge hammer also had been used to smash many of the heavy parts, such as the motor. What happened in the Brink's-Mat robbery? Baker fled and the brief meeting adjourned. The alibi, in fact, was almost too good. 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. In 1936 and 1937, Faherty was convicted of armed robbery violations. What happened to the other half of the Brink's-Mat gold? Perhaps most remarkable, its mastermind didn't even have a criminal record when he planned it out. A detective examines the Brinks vault after the theft. After dousing security guards with petrol and threatening them with a lit match if they didn't open the safes, the six men made an amazing discovery when they stumbled upon 3,000kg worth of gold bars. A federal search warrant was obtained, and the home was searched by agents on April 27, 1950. The other gang members would not talk. On June 19, 1958, while out on appeal in connection with a five-year narcotics sentence, he was found shot to death in an automobile that had crashed into a truck in Boston.). On September 8, 1950, OKeefe was sentenced to three years in the Bradford County jail at Towanda and fined $3,000 for violation of the Uniform Firearms Act. (A detailed survey of the Boston waterfront previously had been made by the FBI.) Two hours later he was dead. Despite the arrests and indictments in January 1956, more than $2,775,000, including $1,218,211.29 in cash, was still missing. The money inside the cooler which was concealed in the wall of the Tremont Street office was wrapped in plastic and newspaper. Like Gusciora, OKeefe was known to have associated with Pino prior to the Brinks robbery. Two weeks of comparative quiet in the gang members lives were shattered on June 5, 1954, when an attempt was made on OKeefes life. On October 20, 1981, members of the Black Liberation Army robbed a Brink's truck at the Nanuet Mall. This man claimed to have no knowledge of Pinos involvement in the Brinks robbery.). The fiber bags used to conceal the pieces were identified as having been used as containers for beef bones shipped from South America to a gelatin manufacturing company in Massachusetts. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. It was almost the perfect crime. During this visit, Gusciora got up from his bed, and, in full view of the clergyman, slipped to the floor, striking his head. 00:29. Mr. Gilbert was 37 on the day of the attack, Oct. 20, 1981, when nearly $1.6 million in cash was stolen from an armored Brink's car outside the Nanuet Mall near Nyack. OKeefe was sentenced on August 5, 1954, to serve 27 months in prison. Seven months later, however, he was again paroled. The names of Pino, McGinnis, Adolph Jazz Maffie, and Henry Baker were frequently mentioned in these rumors, and it was said that they had been with OKeefe on the Big Job.. The group were led . Well-meaning persons throughout the country began sending the FBI tips and theories which they hoped would assist in the investigation. BY The Associated Press. This underworld character told the officers that he had found this money. Each of the five lock cylinders was taken on a separate occasion. Ten of the persons who appeared before this grand jury breathed much more easily when they learned that no indictments had been returned. During November and December 1949, the approach to the Brinks building and the flight over the getaway route were practiced to perfection. Two of the gang members moved toward the door to capture him; but, seeing the garage attendant walk away apparently unaware that the robbery was being committed, they did not pursue him. He subsequently was convicted and executed.). Occasionally, an offender who was facing a prison term would boast that he had hot information. 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. Jewelers report over $100 million in losses after Brinks armored truck robbed in California. Until the FBI and its partners painstakingly solved the case. Todd Williamson/Getty Images David Ghantt attends the 2016 after party for the Hollywood premiere of Masterminds, based on the Loomis Fargo heist that he helped carry out. Yet, it only amounted to a near perfect crime. BOSTON Friday, Jan. 17, 2020 marks 70 years since a group of armed and masked men stole millions of dollars from an armored car depot in the North End in what the FBI still calls "the crime of the century.". As a government witness, he reluctantly would have testified against him. In pursuing the underworld rumors concerning the principal suspects in the Brinks case, the FBI succeeded in identifying more probable members of the gang. Almost immediately, the gang began laying new plans. On August 29, 1954, the officers suspicions were aroused by an automobile that circled the general vicinity of the abandoned car on five occasions. He was certain he would be considered a strong suspect and wanted to begin establishing an alibi immediately.) Seventy years ago today, a group of men stole $1.2 million in cash and $1.5 million in checks. Democrat and Chronicle. When OKeefe admitted his part in the Brinks robbery to FBI agents in January 1956, he told of his high regard for Gusciora. All but Pino and Banfield stepped out and proceeded into the playground to await Costas signal. Some of the jewelry might. In the back were Pino, OKeefe, Baker, Faherty, Maffie, Gusciora, Michael Vincent Geagan (pictured), and Thomas Francis Richardson. Armed crooks wearing Halloween masks and chauffeur . Charged with unlawful possession of liquor distillery equipment and violation of Internal Revenue laws, he had many headaches during the period in which OKeefe was giving so much trouble to the gang. Since the robbery had taken place between approximately 7:10 and 7:27 p.m., it was quite probable that a gang, as well drilled as the Brinks robbers obviously were, would have arranged to rendezvous at a specific time. During the trip from Roxbury, Pino distributed Navy-type peacoats and chauffeurs caps to the other seven men in the rear of the truck. None of these materialized because the gang did not consider the conditions to be favorable. Nonetheless, the finding of the truck parts at Stoughton, Massachusetts, was to prove a valuable break in the investigation. 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 gang members who remained at the house of Maffies parents soon dispersed to establish alibis for themselves. In April 1950, the FBI received information indicating that part of the Brinks loot was hidden in the home of a relative of OKeefe in Boston. Richardson had participated with Faherty in an armed robbery in February 1934. He was found brutally murdered in his car in 1987. Considerable thought was given to every detail. Adding to these problems was the constant pressure being exerted upon Pino by OKeefe from the county jail in Towanda, Pennsylvania. Pino previously had arranged for this man to keep his shop open beyond the normal closing time on nights when Pino requested him to do so. While the others stayed at the house to make a quick count of the loot, Pino and Faherty departed. 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. Banfield drove the truck to the house of Maffies parents in Roxbury. Special agents subsequently interviewed Costa and his wife, Pino and his wife, the racketeer, and OKeefe. The FBI further learned that four revolvers had been taken by the gang. Even if released, he thought, his days were numbered. After completing its hearings on January 9, 1953, the grand jury retired to weigh the evidence. Approximately one and one-half hours later, Banfield returned with McGinnis. The series surrounds the 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery in which 26 million (equivalent to 93.3 million in 2021) worth of gold bullion, diamonds, and cash were stolen from a storehouse near Heathrow Airport. Soon after OKeefes return in March 1954, Baker and his wife left Boston on a vacation.. On November 26 1983, six armed robbers entered the Brink's-Mat security warehouse at the Heathrow International Trading Estate. Accordingly, another lock cylinder was installed until the original one was returned. All were guilty. All had been published in Boston between December 4, 1955, and February 21, 1956. Examination by the FBI Laboratory subsequently disclosed that the decomposition, discoloration, and matting together of the bills were due, at least in part, to the fact that all of the bills had been wet. All were denied, and the impaneling of the jury was begun on August 7. On the night of January 18, 1950, OKeefe and Gusciora received $100,000 each from the robbery loot. Race tracks and gambling establishments also were covered in the hope of finding some of the loot in circulation. 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. From his cell in Springfield, OKeefe wrote bitter letters to members of the Brinks gang and persisted in his demands for money. He was not involved in the Brinks robbery. Costa claimed that after working at the motor terminal until approximately 5:00 p.m. on January 17, 1950, he had gone home to eat dinner; then, at approximately 7:00 p.m., he left to return to the terminal and worked until about 9:00 p.m. Due to his criminal record, the Immigration and Naturalization Service instituted proceedings in 1941 to deport him. All denied any knowledge of the alleged incident. 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 wall partition described by the Boston criminal was located in Fat Johns office, and when the partition was removed, a picnic-type cooler was found. 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.