Some of the biggest numbers remaining on the Loomis collection board, as is the case with Campbell, belong to those who played the biggest role in the crime: David Ghantt, the Loomis employee who loaded all that money 2,800 pounds in all into the back of a company van before escaping to Mexico, has paid just under $50,000 of the $3.81 million he was assessed. Who pulled off the biggest heist in history? See all of the stories here. David Scott Ghantt was the vault supervisor at the regional branch of Loomis, Fargo & Co. in Charlotte, North Carolina. When he walked onto the plane, he was wearing big, tall cowboy boots, where hed stuffed a majority of the smuggled cash. Its easy to get somebody to do something if you know that they are that infatuated with you.. And I think that makes it all the more funny, because it really offends my co-defendants. 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.. For her part, Kelly Campbell spent six years in federal prison. Hed be in contact. 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. You can seize property. Called Masterminds, the 2016 film stars Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, though he was released on parole after five. Or that hed gotten lucky gambling. Campbell was another employee at Loomis Fargo and she and Ghantt quickly struck up a relationship, one that Campbell denies was ever romantic though FBI evidence says otherwise, and one that continued after she left the company. After this look at David Ghantt and the Loomis Fargo heist, read about a more successful robbery, the Antwerp diamond heist. While making only eight dollars an hour in his role as supervisor, Ghantt decided it was time to do something: I was unhappy with my life. the Loomis Fargo heist The jokes between Ghantt and Campbell about their disgruntlement with their jobs took on a more serious note when Campbell introduced Ghantt to an old high school classmate of hers named Steve Chambers. 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. She wondered how much she could deposit without attracting the attention of the FBI, so she decided to just ask the teller: How much can I deposit before you have to report it to the feds? she asked. The whole town I was staying in was 98.9 percent Mexican, except for when the cruise ships were in, Ghantt recalls. Criminals dont usually get high-paying jobs after leaving prison. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. Given his position at the bank, hed be the one to pull off the robbery, and he intended to be ready. But as soon as he drove off, I went right back in and opened the vault. His new life in Mexico had begun. Eric Payne got out of prison in 2006 for his role in the heist and has since paid $11,357 on his $292,000 debt. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) The Associated Press, BY MICHAEL GORDON, The Charlotte Observer. FBI security footage of David Ghantt in the midst of the Loomis Fargo heist. wydd radio pittsburgh; dumb military bases I did a little research into crime statistics and the local cops. While she made small deposits at first, she became more reckless, eventually making a deposit of thousands of dollars in cash, telling the teller not to worry: Its not drug money.. More than 2 million dollars is still missing to this day. Ive never taken offense to anything like that, he tells me. In Florida, a Loomis Fargo employee had pulled a gun on his coworkers and gotten away with $18 million, a move that FBI agents theorize Ghantt, Campbell and other employees all sat around talking about and what they would do with that amount of money for a while. Ghantts wife was reportedly nothing like the bizarre, robotic fiance character in the film, for instance. First, Chambers and his wife each deposited $5,000 into each of their bank accounts. 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? Campbellwho was married herselfrepresented something new and exciting. Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. WebSteven Chambers [Misc. Marshals Service auctioned off the purchased items in Charlotte, most of which came from the Chambers and Cramers. Web>> PHOTOS: The Loomis Fargo heist, 25 years later Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers, carried out the Loomis Fargo To make a successful getaway, Ghantt had to lift nearly 2,800 pounds of currency. By comparison, Ghantt served seven years in prison and was fined $26,000. 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. To find out more about how the thieves got caught and how long they landed behind bars, tune in the Super Heists on CNBC on Monday at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The government does not run debtors prisons, says U.S. Inside the truck, they found Ghantt's ring and surmised this was a sign of Ghantt's intention to end his relationship with his wife. Ghantt was missing and no one, not even his wife, knew where he was. He completed his prison sentence in November 2006. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! 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. From there, the money was moved from the company vehicle to private vehicles. By March, Steve Chambers decided he needed to do something more drastic about Ghantt, making plans to send a hitman to Mexico to silence him for good. The leader was Allen Pace, who turned out to be the worst safety inspector the Dunbar Armored trucking company ever employed. He goes, My name is Bruno. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded daily by millions of dollars-worth of temptation. Get to me. Its that kind of excitement.. Fed up, exhausted, and seeing a way out, Ghantt agreed. Theres no way to get it back, Butcher told The Charlotte Observer. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. Todd Williamson/Getty ImagesDavid Ghantt attends the 2016 after party for the Hollywood premiere of Masterminds, based on the Loomis Fargo heist that he helped carry out. Thatd probably been the best thing for me to do, really. More than half of the amount came from the seizure of a luxury home purchased by husband-and-wife defendants during their post-heist spending spree. Tags: Associated Press, courts, crime, North Carolina. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. Just head on out. And so, he did. Ill never pay it off on my paycheck, Ghantt said. The plan was for Ghantt to commit the robbery and then quickly leave the country for Mexico but to leave the bulk of the cash with Chambers. This meant a bump in pay, up to $8.15 an hour. On similar grounds, four other people were ultimately also charged with money laundering. 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. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! 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. Within two days, the investigators found the van with $3 million in cash and the security camera tapes inside. Loomis has received $978,983.79, according to Sally Butcher, an assistant clerk in the federal courts of the Western District of North Carolina who specializes in criminal debt. Ask below and we'll reply! But before thehit could be carried out, the FBI swooped in and arrested Ghantt and the others. The next day, Steve and Michelle Chambers, Kelly Campbell, and four others were arrested.[6]. 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. All the while, Ghantt prepared himself for the task at hand. Inside without a hiccup, he placedthe $17 million cash, in bags that altogether weighed more than 2,700 pounds, onto carts and into a van. 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. When neighbors asked where they got their money, Steve said hed played in the NFL. Only a nickel on every dollar have been collected so far. We were two paychecks away from being homeless at any given time.. Down in Jacksonville, a Loomis Fargo employee took $18 million from an armored van he was driving. Ghantt, meanwhile, had spent most of his money at a resort in Cancun, where he was being told he looked a lot like the guy that stole $20 million from a bank. On Oct. 4, Ghantt sent home the employee he was training and disabled two security cameras near the vault in preparation for the heist. Webbird adoption adelaide real life kelly campbell loomis fargo. Ghantt started at Loomis Fargo in 1994, and soon worked his way up from an armored car driver to a vault supervisor. Its really just a matter of timing, more than anything. And she says, How much do you think wed get out of there? I said, Ten to 15 million. But I didnt really know.. Join the 119,947 smart Charlotteans that receive our daily newsletter. Even still, he was 27, married and struggling to provide for his family. At that same time, Steve was growing sick of the calls to send more money to Ghantt, and was looking for a way to end that issue. 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. And I said, Hey, man, I got this. Chambers served 11 years before being released. She will never get beyond the debt. So much so that one suspicious neighbor called the FBI. Records show the government has garnished his Social Security checks. Ghantt would pocket the $50,000 and head to Mexico with Campbell, where hed stay until it was safe to come back. FILE - Kelly Campbell, one of the 21 people convicted for their involvement in the $17 million Loomis Fargo heist, awaits sentencing for her part in the theft at her mobile home near Mount Holly, N.C. on Aug 16, 1999. By then Id figured out that Bruno was up to no good, and that Id probably never seen any more of my money. WebThis real-life . Or that it was an inheritance. 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. The only defendant to not plead guilty, Chambers's attorney Jeff Guller, was found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to eight years in prison. Officials suspected that the extravagant purchases stemmed from the fact that all involved got far more money than they anticipated and literally didnt know how to spend or get rid of it, which is perhaps backed up by the fact that Chambers wife once walked into a Belmont Wachovia with $200,000 in a briefcase wanting to know how much she could deposit without the bank reporting it to officials. And when everybody else voted to kill me, she voted with them, he explains. All but one of the defendants pleaded guilty. All of the cash from the Loomis Fargo heist was recovered or accounted for, except for $2 million. 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. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. As it turned out, Ghantt was zipping up his scuba suit in Mexico. Twenty people were convicted of roles big and small in the massive 1997 armored-car warehouse heist in west Charlotte. The Dunbar Armored robbery Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here: PrepScholar 2013-2018. Chambers and his wife Michele moved out of a trailer and into a luxury mansion in a nice neighborhood. Less than a month later, the family moved from a double-wide to a 7,000-square-foot, $635,000 home in a gated country club community in Gaston County. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. Michelle Chambers received seven years and eight months, while Steve Chambers was handed an 11-year sentence. The barrels were Steves idea, Ghantt says. A few of the Loomis restitution cases have already been closed either because the amount was paid in full or because the 20-year clock wound down. I flew from Atlanta to New Orleans. Restitution is a familiar part of sentencing in federal court. The Chambers, however, didnt fit in with the other members of the gated community. But it didnt really hit me until later., On March 2nd, when the FBI agents walked up to Ghantt in Playa del Carmen and told him he was under arrest, Ghantt was relieved. Too bad it was so poorly planned. Chambers and his wife also made some cash payments on a few cars. Where I was going was right there near the Cayman Islands. Im a very deliberate person. I had to go in there and tell her the whole story, and she was real cool about it. He had stayed in a luxury hotel and paid for expensive food and activities such as scuba diving and parasailing. But his partners soon began to get greedy and were spending large amountswith Chambers and his wife, Michelle, even buying an exclusive mansion in cash. cheap beachfront property for sale in italy. Retro CharlotteFBI security footage of David Ghantt in the midst of the Loomis Fargo heist. Its everything thats coming north.. 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. If so,check out some of these books on our AP History Exam reading list. On Oct. 5, the Loomis heist celebrates its 25th birthday. Ghantt and Campbell couldnt get to Mexico from Columbia, as there were no international flights being offered out of the hub, which they would have known, had they called ahead. [15], "David Ghantt" redirects here. Youre better at planning bank heists than David Ghantt. And I knew that by that time, Id be in Cancun no matter what. So I was glad it was over. Campbell was receptive and brought the idea up to Ghantt. Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. new mexico state police vin inspection; does white vinegar lower blood pressure; prudential tcfd report WebAydin Properties > Uncategorized > real kelly campbell loomis fargo heist. All of the defendants except for one pleaded guilty and accepted their sentences. $17.3 million in cash was robbed from the Charlotte, North Carolina, regional office vault of Loomis, Fargo & Co. on the evening of October 4, 1997. There was a third person with them, too, a man named Eric Grant. It happened on October 4, a Saturday. Truth be told, Ghantt had something of a crush on Campbell, and so, he told her exactly how hed pull off such a heist. 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