The Greatest Bank Robberies Of All Time
The Greatest Bank Robberies Of All Time
The Greatest Bank Robberies Of All TimeBank robbery has long been considered as one of the more romanticised crimes, and have formed stoies for many books and films throughout history. It is often seen as more of a victimless crime, and as such is treated with greater respect than say house robbery or street mugging. Here, we take a look at the most daring, and awe-inspiring bank robberies of all time.
First up, we travel back to late 19th century Australia and the notorious Ned Kelly gang, whose dual robberies at Euroa and Jerilderie were not only highly successful insofar as they got away with large sums of money, but that they carried the heists out with an underlying sense of care and duty towards the "hostages".
Both robberies were carried out with similar strategies in place, namely the gang's use of a police officer's disguise. This technique allowed the gang to mix with locals before the planned event.
The Euroa robbery was carried out on the 10th December 1878, when Ned and his gang made off with 2,260, a relatively large sum in those days. During the raid and the subsequent imprisonment of hostages, it is believed that the gang gave a performance of horsemanship before leaving without causing any injury to those involved.
2 months later at Jerilderie, on the 8th February 1879, the gang imprisoned police officers, stole their uniforms and then paraded themselves as re-inforcements from Sydney. The gang then proceeded to steal some 2,414. In addition to the money stolen, Ned and the outlaws burned the mortgage deeds of the townspeople which were held in the bank. Such acts as this have made Ned Kelly a folk hero in Australia to many.
More recently, the Great Train Robbery was carried out near Buckinghamshire in England in 1963. The gang of 15 members included Ronnie Biggs, Bruce Reynolds, Charlie Wilson and Jimmy Hussey, and was successful in obtaining a sum of 2.3 million, the equivalent of 40 million today.
Though a few of the assailants were arerested, they escaped prison and eluded the police for quite some time. Amongst the escapees was Ronnie Biggs, whose voluntary return to the UK in 2001 earned him 9 years in prison. However, he was released early on compassionate grounds when his health detriorated significantly.
Bringing things right up to date, and travelling now to Iraq at the beginning of the US bombing of Baghdad in 2003, we have the theft of almost $1 billion from the Central Bank of Iraq. This is considered to be the largest bank heist in history. It was carried out by the fallen dictator himself, Saddam Hussein, in anticipation of the invading Western forces. The majority of the sums were located in Saddam's palace by US troops some time later, with the remaining amount still unaccounted for.
The Iraq heist is obviously no ordinary bank job, with orders for the money to be extracted being issued from the country's leader, and handed over without force to his son Qusay who had been sent to retrieve the funds.
Today, more intricate and daring plans are required to overcome heightened security systems and atm software. However, with bank robbery it seems to be a case of where there is a will, there is a way. Though it may not be as simple as dressing up as police officers and demandingh the money, the sentiment has remained strikingly similar throughout the years.