They also bought a BMW Z3 with cash and made several large purchases, including a $600 cigar store Indian. Even though they drove away with less than they had initially intended, they still had more than $17 million in hand. The thieves had simply abandoned whatever they couldnt carry away. But even though he worked for a company that regularly moved millions of dollars, David Ghantt himself was underpaid. David Bowie 's widow recently took to Instagram to post selfies, while promoting both her makeup brand and fashion line. The judge said he doubted she would be able to pay the $4.8 million restitution, but said federal law required him to impose it. The additions come as KFC recently removed some menu items, including wings, popcorn chicken and cookies, to make room for new additions. By now, you probably know the names -- David Ghantt, Steve Chambers and his wife Michelle, and Kelly Campbell. The Loomis Fargo robbery was one of the largest heists in history, with $2 million in stolen funds still unaccounted for. Its easy to get somebody to do something if you know that they are that infatuated with you.. The two struck up a friendship during work that would continue after Campbell left the company. Chambers wife, Michelle, bought a minivan in cash and began taking frequent trips to the bank to make deposits. To make a successful getaway, Ghantt had to lift nearly 2,800 pounds of currency. The Current TikTok Ban Doesnt Go Far Enough. This Wednesday marks the 20th anniversary of the notorious Loomis Fargo heist. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM MASTERMIND MOVIE. Campbell used part of her share of the money to buy a Toyota Sienna minivan in two cash installments. In fact, David Ghantt was about to commit the heist of a lifetime. afficher des publicits et des contenus personnaliss en fonction de vos profils de centres dintrt; mesurer lefficacit des publicits et contenus personnaliss; et. The pair were both from the United States but had lived in the Peloponnese region of Greece for the past few years. On Oct. 4, 1997, former Kings Mountain resident David Scott Ghantt finished his shift as a vault supervisor for Loomis Fargo in Charlotte. Ghantt, in order to conserve this money, curtailed his spending. The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points, How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer. David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis), an employee of Loomis Fargo, robbed his own vault, left the $17.3 million in cash with his co-conspirators, Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig) and Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson) and fled the country to Mexico. Ghantt, now 29, was a tall, decorated Persian Gulf War veteran whom early newspaper reports likened to Huckleberry Finn. Prosecutors also resisted Culler's efforts to downplay Michele Chambers' role in the theft. A: Zach and I have a runningtext conversation going, but he's very busy. David GhanttRetweeted Iraqveteran8888 @Iraqveteran8888 Dec 9, 2022 Elect me President and I'll fire everyone, free Julian Assange, and pardon Edward Snowden. Chambers, who made an ill-fated decision to buy a home in the gated Cramer Mountain community with his newfound wealth, now runsa gym on Lowell-Bethesda Road. You can't get barbecue slaw in this hedonistic state (Florida), and there's nowhere to get real ice cream here like Tony's. Will Mcintyre/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesMichele Chambers 1998 BMW for sale following the prosecutions of the Loomis Fargo heist conspirators. [citation needed], It was later confirmed by the FBI that more than 88% of the stolen cash had been located or otherwise accounted for. All of the defendants except for one pleaded guilty and accepted their sentences. Im like, You need to understand that, that money has been missing for 20 years. Theres barely a laugh in the entire film, which looks like it was shot entirely in one take while the actors were still working out their characters. Chambers served 11 years before being released. Her husband, Steve Chambers, whom prosecutors have called the main defendant, began serving an 11-year sentence earlier this year. At the time it was the second largest cash robbery ever to happen on US soil. In the end, eight co-conspirators were indicted for the Loomis Fargo heist. With a cast like this, and Emily Spivey (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Up All Night) as part of the writing team, Masterminds shouldnt be nearly as obnoxious and dull as it is, but nothing ever clicks. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Als u uw keuzes wilt aanpassen, klik dan op 'Privacyinstellingen beheren'. Hes way smarter than youd think he would be because he tends to play Bozos. Ghantts wife was reportedly nothing like the bizarre, robotic fiance character in the film, for instance. I didnt even know about it and overlooked it, he said. While Ghantt spent more than 6 1/2 years in federal prison, he said he usedthat time to"re-invent" himself. During the next few months they bought a BMW-Z3 roadster and tens of thousands of dollars in antiques, furniture and decorations. After this look at David Ghantt and the Loomis Fargo heist, read about a more successful robbery, the Antwerp diamond heist. Robbing the 7-Eleven and getting $40 bucks and a pack of Marlboros was not for me. Instead, the bandits just started throwing as much money as they could into the van until they couldnt fit anymore. Before he decided to steal $17 million from the bank, Ghantt had worked for years as a relatively taciturn and compliant employee. Generally, the events of the film are fairly close to reality when they follow the broad details of the case. Its about the 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery also known as the hillbillly heist the second largest cash robbery in the history of the United States. However, the FBI knew immediately who robbed the vault (Ghant was seen on video camera), and it didnt take long for the FBI to loop in Kelly Campbell. Steve Chambers and his wife (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) were a little more difficult to connect to the heist. Get the latest articles and test prep tips! Chambers promised to wire him money in Mexico until the investigation blew over and Ghantt could return to North Carolina. David Ghantt : I had a hard time liftin' it up. Ghantt and his compatriots, it turns out, had underestimated how bulky money is. U kunt uw keuzes te allen tijde wijzigen door te klikken op de links 'Privacydashboard' op onze sites en in onze apps. So he hatched a plan to rob his employers. Q: Your troubles were self-inflicted, but you seem happy. Q: Do you ever think about what your life would be like if you had gotten away with the money? Ghantt, who had been with the bank since 1994, was promoted from driver to vault supervisor in 1997, where he earned $360 a week and befriended Kelly Campbell (Wiig), who got Ghantt mixed up in the plans for the heist after she left Loomis. David Ghantt : [voice-over] Steve was a petty thief, mostly known for stealing tiny wheelchairs from pediatric hospitals. . Two of them, Mike and Kim Goodman, are scheduled to be sentenced today. #CLXGaming#CLXRa#evokethegods 1 2 EDITORIAL. The pair began to daydream about whether they could really pull off the heist. In spite of Chambers assurance that the money was, you know, totally not illegally acquired, the teller remained suspicious, especially because the stacks of cash still had Loomis Fargo wrappers on them. Pocketing $50,000 for himself, that man, named David Ghantt, hopped into a car of his own and headed towards Mexico. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. Wij, Yahoo, maken deel uit van de Yahoo-merkenfamilie. He was also married. David Ghantt on stealing 17 million dollars from Loomis Fargo (Crime & Entertainment Full Interview) Crime & Entertainment 3.77K subscribers Subscribe 4.8K views 1 year ago David Ghantt. I'd probably be that infamous gringo living in Belize, kicked back on the beach, fishing and bored out of my mind. The True Story of David Ghantt and the Loomis Fargo Heist, Get Free Guides to Boost Your SAT/ACT Score, check out some of these books on our AP History Exam reading list. Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. Q: How do you tell prospective employers you once stole $17 million? I think Zachs a hell of an actor. David Ghantt attends the after party for the Premiere Of Relativity Media's "Masterminds" on September 26, 2016 in Hollywood, California. Its a farce that never farces; a comedy without jokes. The FBI (Leslie Jones, Jon Daly) made easy work of the case, however, and everyone involved was eventually arrested and imprisoned. CREATIVE. On Oct. 5, 1997, Ghantt carried out the heist during his regular shift after sending another employee home, stealing more than $17 million from the bank vault. Chambers had known enough to insist that no one blows through a ton of cash immediately after the robbery, but once he actually had his hands on the money, he couldnt follow his own advice. Victoria Beckham's family were on hand as she debuted her latest collection at Paris Fashion Week on March 3, including her and husband David Beckham's oldest child, Brooklyn Beckham . Not only was Ghantt the only unaccounted for employee the morning after the heist, there was also footage of Ghantt moving the cash into the back of the Loomis Fargo van. Of course, the FBI was already aware of Chambers and his free-spending ways, and the murder plot helped federal agents find Ghantt south of the border. And Ghantt hadnt really thought about the physical challenge of moving such a large sum of money. In addition to his phone calls with Ghantt, Chambers began extravagantly spending the money, even though the co-conspirators had agreed to lay low for a year or two. A: People are very forgiving if you're open and honest right from the start. For instance, after stealing $17.3 million $11 million of which was in $20 bills the conspirators had to leave behind $3 million in cash because they couldnt fit all of it in their cars. The next day, the Chambers, Campbell, and some other notable parties were arrested in Charlotte. Instead, the two started hanging out on the beach together and became friends. Ghantt has never explained where that money went. Q: You came to the North Carolina mountains during Hurricane Irma, but what do you miss about Gastonia? Then Michele made a trip to the bank. Naturally, Ghantt started to run out of cash and turned to Chambers, who was annoyed by his requests for more money. That usually takes the shine right off of it, when you start explaining that. He continued, Youd be wearing a lot of khaki brown and eating crappy food., Since the films release and its recent Netflix debut, Scott Ghent cited that the most common question he receives is about the missing $2 million never recovered by the FBI; Ive had people actually ask me that question. Chambers and his wife Michele moved out of a trailer and into a luxury mansion in a nice neighborhood. He is an uncomplicated man stuck in a monotonous life. What happens at the end of mastermind? Theyre meant to be trailer-park trash, but they come off as character experiments on a bad night at the Groundlings. (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). Officers responded just after 5 a.m. Wednesday to an area near the intersection of Martin Luther King Drive and Carolyn Coleman Way and found , "The Wall Street Journal just so happened to have a supportive op-ed ready to publish within hours of the meeting. I really don't miss that guy. Chambers and his wife also made some cash payments on a few cars. Culler acknowledged that she had overheard her husband and co-defendant Kelly Campbell talk about the plan, ``but she thought it was fantasy world.'. Campbell knew theyd need the help of the warehouses vault supervisor, who just happened to have a crush on her, and she called Ghantt to ask for his help. Day in and day out, he drives an armored vehicle,. Its gone! He was insecure. Campbell and Chambers made themselves easy to catch, what with their lavish spending. [citation needed], The defendants were the targets of many barbed jokes in Charlotte and across the country, in part because of their extravagant spending. I was working sometimes 75-80 hours a week at $8.15 an hour. He had never been in trouble with the law. followed by "Don't worry, it is not drug money," the bank filled out a suspicious activity report, which ultimately reached the FBI. Si vous ne souhaitez pas que nos partenaires et nousmmes utilisions des cookies et vos donnes personnelles pour ces motifs supplmentaires, cliquez sur Refuser tout. It's the little things like that that gnaw on you. David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis), an employee of Loomis Fargo, robbed his own vault, left the $17.3 million in cash with his co-conspirators, Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig) and Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson) and fled the country to Mexico. Ghantt sent home a new employee and quickly loaded the money into the back of a bank van. Zach Galifianakis played David Scott Ghantt, with other roles played byOwen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Leslie Jones, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon. If so,check out some of these books on our AP History Exam reading list. They kept several furnishings from the previous owners, including a painting of Elvis Presley on black velvet. 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. Because the money in the vault was largely from banks, the crime was technically a bank robbery and thus a federal offense. 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. Ask below and we'll reply! ABC7 Eyewitness News Watch Now The plan to rob Loomis Fargo was spawned by Campbell and her friend Steve Chambers, during a casual bonfire at Chambers home. By comparison, Ghantt served seven years in prison and was fined $26,000. Besides wearing the ring, driving the BMW, and living in the new house, prosecutors say Michele Chambers helped others deposit millions of dollars in safe-deposit boxes in the area, and that she took $200,000 in cash into a Salisbury bank in November 1997 and came out with a $200,000 check. I figured it had to be me. They received sentences and probation ranging from several years to 11 years and three months in federal prison for Steve Chambers, who was also fined more than $3,500,000. 33. The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points, How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer, Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests. Chambers had no intention of following those rules, believing the FBI would never connect him to Ghantt. He would eventually be arrested in Mexico in March 1998 after one of his co-conspirators put out a hit on him under the false suspicion he was the only prime suspect authorities were aware of at the time. [15], "David Ghantt" redirects here. Elizabeth Poile was in 10th . Just the ability to come and go as I please and walk barefooted in the backyard means so much. Some of the friends and family members received parole, while Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. I'll take the live one. Based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery. Chambers promised to wire him money in Mexico until the investigation blew over and Ghantt could return to . 29 David Ghantt Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images. 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. He also took various measures to change his appearance, such as shaving, after a patron at a restaurant pointed out to him that he "looked like the man who robbed a bank of $20 million. They had initially agreed to control their spending for a year or two, in the belief that the government would vigorously track the spending habits of any and all suspects for at least a year before relenting. The FBI knew they needed to make their move. Whisler told the judge that the couple had searched for a new house before the theft, and that Michele Chambers bought rubber bands from Wal-Mart to count the money the night of the crime. Said Ghantt, one day life kinda slapped me in the face. At the time it was the second largest cash robbery ever to happen on US soil. Follow him on twitter: @MSainat1, 20 Years Later: Masterminds of One of the Largest Bank Heists in U.S. History, The CIAs Changing Take on the Climate Emergency, Emancipation, Hollywoods Best Civil War Film Ever. 43-year-old Margret and her mother both died in 2012 . Nine other relatives and friends were also charged with money laundering, as they had co-signed for safe deposit boxes used to store some of the money; prosecutors opted to charge them on the grounds that they should have known the money was obtained illegally. 2023 www.gastongazette.com. If you're trying to make yourself better today, that's all most people care about. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. The robbery was committed by Loomis vault supervisor David Scott Ghantt, his married girlfriend Kelly Campbell (a former Loomis co-worker), Steven Eugene Chambers (a one-time FBI informant), his wife Michelle Chambers, Michael Gobbies, and four other co-conspirators. For a time, it was nicknamed "the hillbilly heist" because nearly all of the major players in the case came from small towns around Charlotte. Before he decided to steal $17 million from the bank, Ghantt had worked for years as a relatively taciturn and compliant employee. You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or www.Twitter.com/TheGazetteKevin. They would then load as much cash as they could carry into a van. dvelopper et amliorer nos produits et services. Defense lawyer Andy Culler sought a seven-year, three-month sentence. Chambers, his wife, and several of their accomplices were arrested the next day. In November 1990, David married Margaret in San Diego, California. Three of the 21 defendants in the case haven't been sentenced. The robbery was committed by Loomis vault supervisor David Scott Ghantt, his married girlfriend Kelly Campbell (a former Loomis co-worker), Steven Eugene Chambers (a one-time FBI informant), his wife Michelle Chambers, Michael Gobbies, and four other co-conspirators. David Ghantt (@DavidGhantt) is a man that still holds the record for the second largest bank heist on American Soil. On March 12, a Charlotte grand jury indicted the eight co-conspirators for bank larceny and money laundering; the latter offense was included because of how they spent the stolen money. Masterminds - Zach Galifianakis 'David Ghantt' [On-Set Interview]SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://goo.gl/SrrTlTSUBSCRIBE MOVIE TRAILERS: http://goo.gl/8WxGeDA night gu. [1], This robbery was the second-largest cash robbery on U.S. soil at the time, as only seven months earlier, on March 29, 1997 in Jacksonville, Florida, Philip Noel Johnson stole $18.8 million from the Loomis Fargo armored vehicle he was driving.[2]. Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, though he was released on parole after five. They asked me how I felt about it and I said, Its my story, but its your movie so have at me. Even the outtakes during the credits are bad. Kate. ', He explained the glorification and glamour often associated with bank heists and bank robberies in Hollywood films is far from reality. Kelly Campbell is scheduled to be sentenced in October. Eventually, Ghantt would return to the United States and the full sum would be split up between the conspirators. Authorities began to hone in on the group and put a wire tap on Campbell's phones. so make sure youre taking the right ones for you. She had previously been making frequent small deposits to avert suspicion. Two days later, when the FBI found the Loomis Fargo armored van, they discovered almost $3.3 million in cash left in the back of the van; it was later discovered that the thieves had miscalculated the sheer bulk of the small denomination currency, and that they simply left the cash that they could not take with them in the back of the van. When asked what the dumbest thing was that Ghantt spent money on, he admitted: The 4 pairs of boots I bought in one day [shrug] what can I say they were nice and I was impulse shopping.. Jared Hess directed Masterminds, and god bless the guy, but if Gentlemen Broncos and Nacho Libre were not proof enough that Napoleon Dynamite was a fluke, Masterminds should seal the deal. Its 90-minutes of mugging for the camera, but the only people who feel mugged are those that pay to see Masterminds. The Loomis Fargo heist became something of a media lightning rod. I got no real complaints, not at this point., The heist became the premise for the movie,Masterminds, released in September 2016. On the evening of October 4, 1997, one man loaded $17.3 million in cash from the vaults of Loomis, Fargo & Co. into the back of a van. What ACT target score should you be aiming for? Wanneer u onze sites en apps gebruikt, gebruiken we, gebruikers authenticeren, veiligheidsmaatregelen toepassen en spam en misbruik voorkomen, en, gepersonaliseerde advertenties en content weergeven op basis van interesseprofielen, de effectiviteit meten van gepersonaliseerde advertenties en content, en, onze producten en services ontwikkelen en verbeteren. SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination BoardTM. BBC Motion Gallery. But of course, then they had to decorate that spectacular new space and so they spent tens of thousands of dollars on things like cigar store Indians, paintings of Elvis, and a bulldog dressed up like George Patton. David Ghantt normally came home between 6 and 8 p.m., and often he was late, his wife said. An FBI criminal investigation ultimately resulted in the arrest and conviction of eight people directly involved in the heist, as well as sixteen others who had indirectly helped them, and the recovery of approximately 88% of the stolen money. Ghantt reported to Chambers that his supply of money was running low, but Chambers sent Ghantt just $8,000. One of the best ways to learn more about U.S. history is to make sure youre taking history classes. He stayed at a luxury hotel and took scuba diving lesson. What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For? Biography Comedy Crime A guard at an armored car company in the Southern U.S. organizes one of the biggest bank heists in American history. Project #ShowUs. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. The morning after the height, employees of Loomis Fargo realized they couldnt open the vault. (His wife tells him to change that word to "selfish."). To its credit, Masterminds does nail down the broad strokes of the real story, although there were a couple of noteworthy details the film left out. From there, the money was moved from the company vehicle to private vehicles. Hayley Milliman is a former teacher turned writer who blogs about education, history, and technology. Former Cramerton Police Chief David Young soon got wind of the Chambers excessive spending spree and reached out to the FBI. Campbell was receptive and brought the idea up to Ghantt. Michele Chambers' sentence was two months longer than that given to David Scott Ghantt, the Loomis employee who removed the money from the company vault on Oct. 4, 1997. Then you end up in a eight by ten cube and youre going to share that cube with two other people. Now, here we are, two years later. Campbell left her job in the summer of 1997, but she would later use Ghantts feelings for her to her own advantage to get him to agree to carry out the multi-million-dollar heist. He left his wedding ring behind and spent his days spending money on luxury hotels and scuba diving. In the meantime, however, Chambers not only refused to wire money to Ghantt in Mexico, but ultimately hired a hitman (Jason Sudeikis) to take him out. But neither of those things would matter after he met Kelly Campbell. David Scott Ghantt Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. You see, theres a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. hbspt.cta.load(360031, '4efd5fbd-40d7-4b12-8674-6c4f312edd05', {}); Have any questions about this article or other topics? When the cheerleading coach broke the news to Katrina Kohel that she was the only one left on the cheer squad, Kohel was determined to compete anyway. When he was done, the man drove off to a nearby printing press, where the money was distributed into private vehicles amongst a handful of people. Her reaction seems so far away now, all these years and a Hall of Fame career later. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! The next day, Steve and Michelle Chambers, Kelly Campbell, and four others were arrested.[6]. Custom Content. The brother of a man killed by a woman now charged with murder in Chambers County said he sees similarities in his brother's case and the case of woman's latest husband's death. David Ghantt was a nuisance to Steve Chambers and Kelly Campbell, John Wydra, a retired FBI agent who handled the case, told Super Heists..
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