Instead, the two started hanging out on the beach together and became friends. This is the person I counted as my friend. Ghantt worked at Loomis Fargos regional office vault in Charlotte. 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. The Loomis defendants face no additional legal jeopardy for not paying off their debts. The connection to Chambers took more time. But as Ghantt admitted, the film took some liberties with specific details and characters to make the film funnier. When she was a teacher, Hayley's students regularly scored in the 99th percentile thanks to her passion for making topics digestible and accessible. We spoke to the FBI agents who investigated the case who say the real-life masterminds couldnt contain their spending-spree. When Ghantt called Chambers to have the latter wire him more money, Chambers sent just a few thousand dollars. I said, It comes down to picking the right day, and the right time of the month, and all that good stuff. I even told her, It wouldnt be all that difficult. These (Loomis) guys, not so much.. 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. He left his wedding ring behind and spent his days spending money on luxury hotels and scuba diving. I was working sometimes 75-80 hours a week at $8.15 an hour. He became the target of a nationwide FBI manhunt and was arrested five months later near the Mexican resort of Cozumel. And it turned Steve into he thought he was Don Corleone all of a sudden.. They picked me, he says with a rueful tone. [15], "David Ghantt" redirects here. Campbell was receptive and brought the idea up to Ghantt. Because the money in the vault was largely from banks, the crime was technically a bank robbery and thus a federal offense. I did a little research into crime statistics and the local cops. A Comprehensive Guide. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. Until, that is, he decided to hell with it he was going to pull-off the second largest heist in U.S. history. I felt cornered and one day the joking in the break room about robbing the place suddenly didnt seem so far-fetched.. All rights reserved. That sounds like a lot of money until its compared to the $18,930,201.26 the group was ordered to pay. Their combined salaries were less than $42,000. WebCampbell 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. Eventually, Ghantt would return to the United States and the full sum would be split up between the conspirators. So much so that one suspicious neighbor called the FBI. About 20 ago, Campbell sent him a letter of apology, but he never responded. David Ghantt was portrayed by Zackary Hatfield. Im a very deliberate person. Items included a velvet Elvis painting, 1998 BMW, 17-foot motorboat and Harley Davidson. Its in the ether. Naturally, Ghantt started to run out of cash and turned to Chambers, who was annoyed by his requests for more money. Hello, federal suspicious activity report. Because Ghantt was the only employee who wasnt there that morning, he became the obvious suspect. By then Id figured out that Bruno was up to no good, and that Id probably never seen any more of my money. David Ghantt was a technical consultant for the film, but due to outstanding court-ordered restitution for his part in the heist he was not paid. David Ghantt And The Loomis Fargo Heist: The Outrageous True Story. Campbell, for her part, bought a Toyota van in two installments. Chambers and two accomplices, making their way to Vale in order to put the barrels in his home, left behind the staggering $3.3 million that didnt fit and the two security tapes in the Loomis Fargo van that Ghantt had driven. Ghantt sent home a new employee and quickly loaded the money into the back of a bank van. Guller was the attorney for Steven Chambers, who came up with the original idea for the Loomis theft. First, they loaded the cash into blue 55-gallon barrels, and then they moved the barrels into a rental van. But I thought this is me being hard-headed Im going to ride this thing to the ground. And so thats what I did.. Was Loomis Fargo heist real? (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP), DeSantis Awards $100M for Hurricane Erosion Recovery Efforts, Judge Orders Release of Video of Inmate Who Mutilated Self, Indiana Man Charged After Son in Diaper Points Gun at People, California Do Not Sell My Personal Information Request. Websacramento drug bust; montage los cabos wedding cost. There are two ideas as to how the plan was created. Theres less security. kellis@gastongazette.com View Comments 0:03 1:14 On Oct. 4, 1997, former Kings Mountain resident David Scott Ghantt finished his shift as a vault supervisor for Loomis Fargo in Charlotte. [citation needed], The defendants were the targets of many barbed jokes in Charlotte and across the country, in part because of their extravagant spending. 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. As it turned out, Ghantt was zipping up his scuba suit in Mexico. Getting restitution, its like pulling teeth.. Michele Chambers 1998 BMW for sale following the prosecutions of the Loomis Fargo heist conspirators. You know Loomis because of their armored cash vehicles, and when they acquired Wells Fargo Armored, turned into Loomis, Fargo & Co. 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. 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. The plan went off with few problems, but after Ghantt was safely in Mexico, his partners were left storing large amounts of cash. Together, they drove in a convoy to an industrial warehouse eight miles away, where Eric Payne, a fourth accomplice was. The conversations werent made up of much more than daydreams that took the vague shape of plansuntilCampbell mentioned that she had a high school friend with connections that could actually get it done. 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.. Who are the actors in the movie Masterminds? Two days after theyd robbed the Loomis Fargo truck the very same day the police found the abandoned van in the woods Steve and Michelle Chambers walked into a bank and deposited their cut of the stolen money into their account. Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.PrepScholar.com, allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. The pal part is true: The real amateur killer Chambers sent couldnt pull off the crime after traveling to Mexico. The number of people involved had ballooned after Steve started asking friends and family to help him launder the stolen cash. 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. And so, he told her, Google my name. That was pretty awesome., It felt like a dream vacation until he started running out of money. Ghantt, in order to conserve this money, curtailed his spending. The Dunbar Armored robbery is the largest cash robbery to have occurred in the United States. What that says is, We will never forgive you for what youve done.. Steve bought a truck, a Rolex and a motorboat. Once I start something, Im going to the end., As for how he felt in the moment, he says, Imagine me and you went on an airplane. Youre supposed to get less time for cooperating, a lesser penalty, and instead, you see what she got hit with. Gronquist said. 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. 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. 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. He made it across the border just as his deception was discovered. David Ghantt, a Gulf War veteran, had never been in trouble with the law. 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, Some days, the robbery seems like a memory from a different life, a choice made by a different man. His name was Corey. As for his new wife, when the two just started dating, he was nervous about letting her know about his past, but he wanted to be honest. He stayed at a luxury hotel and took scuba diving lesson. After this look at David Ghantt and the Loomis Fargo heist, read about a more successful robbery, the Antwerp diamond heist. Ghantt simply got ready for work one morning knowing it would be his last day on the job. It wasnt a big hit, but Ghantt, who was played by Galifianakis, gives it a rave review. You might as well take it all, Ghantt tells me. She will never get beyond the debt. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ A woman who helped plan the $17 million robbery of armored car company Loomis, Fargo & Co. The Evergreen State takes the top spot again in the U.S. News Best States ranking on the strength of its tech sector and other industries. Jim Gronquist, Campbells defense attorney during the Loomis case, says the financial penalties levied against his client and her co-defendants are grossly excessive and unjust, particularly since most of the stolen Loomis money was actually recovered. Michelle Chambers received seven years and eight months, while Steve Chambers was handed an 11-year sentence. When she realized Ghantt never came home from work the night before, she contacted the police and filed a missing persons report. He was also married. 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. According to an Observer report, this was seven times larger than their trailer. They left behind the cash they couldnt fit in their cars. 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