Its easy to get somebody to do something if you know that they are that infatuated with you.. Chambers and Campbell were waiting for him in the Loomis Fargo parking lot, both in separate vehicles. Where I was going was right there near the Cayman Islands. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ A woman who helped plan the $17 million robbery of armored car company Loomis, Fargo & Co. Before he decided to steal $17 million from the bank, Ghantt had worked for years as a relatively taciturn and compliant employee. Meanwhile, David Ghantt was relaxing on a beach in Cozumel, Mexico. Even though they drove away with less than they had initially intended, they still had more than $17 million in hand. The next day, the Chambers, Campbell, and some other notable parties were arrested in Charlotte. Scary. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. To say nothing of their art purchases like the aforementioned velvet Elvis portrait and a painting of a bulldog dressed as General George S. Patton. As it turns out, the heist did in fact go as well as you might expect. WebSteven Chambers [Misc. After a couple of weeks, Ghantt and the rest of the heist team were ready to strike. FBI security footage of David Ghantt in the midst of the Loomis Fargo heist. Some of that money is just gone. The case resurfaced in the federal courts on Thursday, Sept. 1, when the U.S. Attorneys Office in Charlotte posted a public reminder in the case file of Loomis defendant Kelly Campbell that she had fallen behind in her restitution. 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. Ron DeSantis has awarded $100 million for beach erosion projects and other restoration efforts in 16 coastal counties damaged by Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole, A Tennessee judge has ruled that video detailing the treatment of a death row inmate who cut off his penis while on suicide watch must be made public, An Indiana man faces felony charges after his diaper-clad 4-year-old son was seen pointing a loaded handgun at people outside their apartment. Finally, in March 1998, the FBI traced a call from Ghantts phone and he was arrested in Mexico. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. With the plan in place, Ghantt sent a newly employed co-worker home early (reportedly at 6 p.m) who had been assigned to train with him. The pair began to daydream about whether they could really pull off the heist. More than 95% of the cash that stolen was accounted for. Dont worry, its not drug money.. His collection case closes in two years. Him and I still talk every now and then. Before he left, he went into his managers office and removed tapes from two of the security cameras. They also bought a BMW Z3 with cash and made several large purchases, including a $600 cigar store Indian. Michelle Chambers paid off only $27,000. The Dunbar Armored robbery We spoke with the inside man, David Ghantt, to get the real story. Husband and wife Steven and Michelle Chambers, whose conspicuous consumption of a luxury home, a BMW convertible, breast implants and a $600 wooden Indian, among other purchases, helped the FBI solve the crime, were assessed $3.81 million and $4.8 million, respectively. Outside the building, Ghantt met up with Campbell, Chambers, and others who were involved in the plot, and drove off to a printing business called Reynolds & Reynolds in northwest Charlotte. David Ghantt attends the after party for the Premiere Of Relativity Media's "Masterminds" on September 26, 2016 in Hollywood, California. He didnt even really question me. To make a successful getaway, Ghantt had to lift nearly 2,800 pounds of currency. ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score, How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League, Is the ACT easier than the SAT? Who was the FBI agent in the movie Masterminds? Its hilarious. Kelly Campbell, 29, a former company employee, entered guilty pleas earlier to bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder charges. His collection case, which closes in November 2026, got credit for the couples $540,000 house on Cramer Mountain in Gaston County, Butcher says. 1997 Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle for sale at auction of items bought after Loomis, Fargo armored car facility heist by Steven Chambers, wife Michele, Kelly Jane Campbell & David Scott Ghanntt (Photo by Will And Deni McIntyre/Getty Images) Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. To that end, Campbell brought in her childhood friend Steve Chambers, who was characterized in the local press as a small-time drug dealer and a local fence for stolen goods, to lead the team. Webbird adoption adelaide real life kelly campbell loomis fargo. I knew that if I did something like that, I would take a huge amount of money, Ghantt said of the brash robbery on an upcoming episode of CNBCs Super Heists, airing Monday at 10 p.m. Ghantt, a U.S. Army veteran, was living a relatively boring life working as the vault superintendent at a Loomis Fargo armored car warehouse just outside Charlotte, North Carolina making a relatively meager paycheck, when he crossed paths with Kelly Campbell. The other, suggested bythen-Observer reporter Jeff Diamant, says that Campbell created the plan with Steve Chambers,a drug dealer who was facing charges for writing $30,000 worth of bad checks, and later got Ghantt involved. WebTo that end, Campbell brought in her childhood friend Steve Chambers, who was characterized in the local press as a small-time drug dealer and a local fence for stolen I pay (restitution to) thousands of people, but its in drips and drabs.. One number is working in Campbells favor. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Michelle Chambers received seven years and eight months, while Steve Chambers was handed an 11-year sentence. You see, theres a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. Ghantt worked at Loomis Fargos regional office vault in Charlotte. All of the defendants except for one pleaded guilty and accepted their sentences. She had previously been making frequent small deposits to avert suspicion. Things went from bad to worse when, in November, Michelle strolled into a bank with a briefcase filled with 200 grand and asked the manager, How much can I deposit without the bank reporting the transaction? When she showed the bank manager that she really had the money to invest, the cash was still bound in Loomis Fargo wrappers. If so,check out some of these books on our AP History Exam reading list. There used to be a consulate in Cancun. The Loomis defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their debts. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. Ask below and we'll reply! She will never get beyond the debt. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. [15], "David Ghantt" redirects here. Get the latest articles and test prep tips! When I call Ghantt to discuss his involvement in the Loomis Fargo heist, he confesses that hes feeling a bit tired from a day of honest labor. Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, though he was released on parole after five. 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. Its kind of like that. Campbell was released from federal custody in 2004 after serving five years, meaning her collection case will age out in December 2024. But neither of those things would matter after he met Kelly Campbell. But I thought this is me being hard-headed Im going to ride this thing to the ground. And so thats what I did.. In 1997, six men pulled off what remains the biggest cash heist in the history of the United States. Across the border in Mexico, Ghantt was also living it up. Ghantt, in order to conserve this money, curtailed his spending. Chambers and his wife also made some cash payments on a few cars. 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. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. They paid for all of it in cash. 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. I knew that the news wouldnt break until later that morning. David Ghantt had been a model employee for an armored car company before pulling off the s 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. According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. The FBI quickly connected Ghantt to Campbell, who was a former Loomis Fargo employee. In the end, eight co-conspirators were indicted for the Loomis Fargo heist. The money was successfully handed off, and Ghantt and Campbellmade their way to the Columbia airport with $50,000 and an intent to make it to Mexico by the next day, where the two would hide out while Chambers took care of things in Charlotte until it was safe to come back. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. He comes to my door, and hes got a brown paper bag in his hand. The Loomis case is another example where the amount of restitution ordered vs. what is actually paid are two dramatically different numbers. Although the history of the predecessor Wells Fargo & Company dates back to 1852, Loomis Fargo & Company was established in 1997 by the consolidation of Wells Fargo Armored Service and Loomis Armored Inc.; the resulting corporation employed 8,500 people and provided armored transportation, cash handling services, and automatic teller machine maintenance. Is the movie Masterminds based on a true story? WebLoomis Fargo Robbery There is a vault reserved for only the most outrageous, preposterous, and far-fetched real life stories. Called Masterminds, the 2016 film stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. They kept several furnishings from the previous owners, including a painting of Elvis Presley on black velvet. Charlotte Agenda is now Axios Charlotte -. In the wee hours of the morning, Chambers and the Erics drove back to the town of Vale, North Carolina, and holed up in a double-wide trailer while counting their cash. ", After successfully tracing Ghantt's phone call, FBI agents coordinated with Mexican police to arrest Ghantt on March 1, 1998, at Playa del Carmen, a city near Cancun. There was a third person with them, too, a man named Eric Grant. For the New York State assemblyman, see. All but one of the indicted pleaded guilty. And then I could hear her laughing. In the film, Jason Sudeikis plays a sadistic assassin hired to knock off Ghantt, who befriends him. The plan was to split the money three ways: Chambers, Campbell and Ghantt would each walk away with what Ghantt estimated to be $5 million a piece the kind of money that changes lives forever. All rights reserved. Or that hed gotten lucky gambling. WebTwo days after the heist, the FBI found the missing van with $3.3 million of cash left in it. 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. So yeah, Ghantt continues, I took a bus from there to Atlanta, and then I hopped a cab from the bus station to the airport in Atlanta., Back in North Carolina, his accomplices were working as fast as they could to hide the $17 million. After this look at David Ghantt and the Loomis Fargo heist, read about a more successful robbery, the Antwerp diamond heist. They would then load as much cash as they could carry into a van. But there was just one thing the group hadnt been counting on: the massive weight of that amount of cash. From going fishing to riding horses on the beach the whole nine yards. And it turned Steve into he thought he was Don Corleone all of a sudden.. In 2020, the television show Super Heists portrayed the heist in Episode 3, "Van Full of Dollars". 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