Military + Veterans. Even still, he was 27, married and struggling to provide for his family. A report by the General Accounting Office found that as of budget year 2016, $110 billion in restitution ordered by the federal courts was outstanding and that more than 90% of the amount had been classified as uncollectible.. Were others involved? I was just going to get the money into the van. "Things I always wanted to do, but never had the time or the money," he said. Hidden in it was a 3 1/2-carat diamond ring that cost $43,000. Her case closes in 2025. Because surprise! . At the time of the real robbery, Chambers was facing criminal charges hed written 30K worth of bad checks and was facing jail time for it. Though David had no criminal experience, he felt he could offer expert advice: He'd just finished reading a book on the FBI. There had been no signs. Basic and voluntary life insurance plan. You can seize property. For her part, Kelly Campbell spent six years in federal prison. It was late in 1996. Then another. . According to Butcher, Campbells last official payment came in June 2021 when the government appears to have seized a tax refund of $81.24. They found Ghantts truck, and in it were his keys, some personal items and his wedding ring. Hes going to start bringing you money. Alright. But he tried to keep his face averted, so David wouldn't be able to ID him. "I'm glad I've grown out of that.". He had a favorite restaurant, Zandunga, which had a mariachi band each night and a view of the Caribbean. Ghantt went on to explain that he rarely even looks at his debt statement to the government, but believes the IRS says he still owes them $3.8 million. If I hadn't done what I did the, the life I have now with my wife and child, I wouldn't have. It will be some time before she can commune with domestic animals again. Scott Grant said he hesitated, but agreed if no guns would be involved. At the end of October, Kelly was sentenced to 5 years 10 months in prison. Kelly drove David to the airport. "He showed me a lot of money," McKinney said. He had stolen $17 million from Loomis Fargo. Turns out, most of the thieves and their accomplices have been about as effective coming up with their court-ordered restitution as they were hiding their original crimes. Copyright 2022 TheAssociated Press. Scott Grant and Steve pulled up next to her in a Mazda. and "I love money!" 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.. Is he telling the truth? He drove to the edge of the Loomis compound, which was surrounded by a chain-link fence. He realized that if they met the minimum monthly payments, the bill would take 30 years to pay. Sandra Floyd, Michele Chambers's mother, remembers the first time she saw the house. I flew from Atlanta to New Orleans. Kelly found herself standing beside David while they waited together for a bond hearing. Sweat soaked David's uniform. Kelly relayed his message to Steve. He had even scheduled a follow-up appointment at the dentist. First, they loaded the cash into blue 55-gallon barrels, and then they moved the barrels into a rental van. After a Gulf War stint in the Army, David got married in 1992. Its hilarious. But agents weren't ready to arrest Kelly and Steve. Agents began picking up signs that David definitely had help: The abandoned Loomis van with $3.3 million in small bills still inside, and phone records showing that somebody beeped him while he stole the money, using David's own cell phone. Speaking of his co-defendants, Ghantt says hes not currently in contact with any of them. "Love" has four. Yes, happy. Though David had said earlier he thought there was $15 million in the vault, the sight of that much cash held them spellbound. But because David's relationship with his Loomis bosses had been rocky, he says, he doesn't feel sorry about what he did to the company. After a couple of weeks, Ghantt and the rest of the heist team were ready to strike. Ghantt would go on to spend six and a half years in federal prison. As it turned out, Ghantt was zipping up his scuba suit in Mexico. Chambers went from a mobile home in Lincoln County to a mansion in Cramerton. And I said, Hey, man, I got this. Kelly was no criminal. By then Id figured out that Bruno was up to no good, and that Id probably never seen any more of my money. Steve solicited two others to help move cash during the theft. I said, Listen, You all need to get your shit together, or Im just going to walk over here to the government building and tell them who the fuck I am. That lit a little fire under her ass, for a bit.. Based on a true story, the premise itself is fascinating, which makes Masterminds all the more a waste. When he landed in Cancun, his first stop was Walmart. Him and I still talk every now and then. Some family members hid money in bank deposit boxes, other friends were asked to mule cash to the Cayman Islands. An Ohio police officer who shot and killed a Black man as he lay in bed in his home last summer is no longer on the force, Three Kansas City police officers who were shot while serving a search warrant have been released from the hospital, Officials say one passenger died when a business jet experienced severe turbulence, forcing a landing at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. I learned something that was valuable at the time: Most criminals never leave a 250, maybe 300-mile circle from their home base. There was a little voice in my head that said, 'Don't do it. Question: You went to Mexico. He gave the rest to Kelly. He'd stay up all night, boosted by coffee, waiting for the sunrise over the ocean. "A lot of people out there had it worse than me, but . . Loomis Fargo Defendants Owe as Much as They Stole in 1997, 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. "I missed my family. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. Field Operations; Corporate; Why Loomis. With the help of Aldo, a Mexican waiter he had befriended, David found a beach apartment in Cancun. If you were one of the much-smaller-than-expected group of people who caught Masterminds at the theater this weekend, and are looking for a fact-check of the events depicted on screen, here are some of the highlights of our chat with Diamant. 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. ", "I said, 'If you drive a truck, you're always in a financial bind. This meant a bump in pay, up to $8.15 an hour. Note: No quotes were altered, although in some cases additional quotes were added to the questions as Ghantt expanded on his thoughts. He figured Tammy wouldn't go for it, and though his marriage had been troubled, he wasn't certain he wanted to leave her. Or does it sit in an offshore account, waiting for a prison sentence to end? The Chambers, however, didnt fit in with the other members of the gated community. He couldn't talk.". But after she left, she reached back out to Ghantt and brought up what theyd talked about that day in the break room. Steve told Scott to ignore the remaining stacks, which were mostly ones and fives. You've violated that trust. Question: What made you, Chambers and the others think you could get away with this? Campbell and her husband had always been just scraping by, however in the weeks following the robbery, the two seemed to have more money than they've ever had. When McKinney realized Ghantt was wanted for the Loomis Fargo robbery, he backed off personally because he didnt want to be anywhere near a federal investigation. But former Kings Mountain resident David Scott Ghantt can. Ghantt was missing and no one, not even his wife, knew where he was. He says the Loomis case shows how the criminal justice system and the courts treat lower-income people differently. At the end of one session, they wound up kissing outside the pickup. He flip-flopped on the heist idea three or four times. Reach our Customer Contact Center by calling 877.877.0560 from 6:30 AM to 11:30 PM CT every day or by completing the provided form. You might as well take it all, Ghantt tells me. David was excited, jabbering about their future together. Hes very articulate. Industry leading Training and Development. But Ghantt, who served as an unpaid consultant to the movie and attended the big Los Angeles premiere earlier in the week, has no such reservations. It's about the 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery also known as the "hillbillly heist" the second largest cash robbery in the history of the United States. You cannot fine low-income people millions of dollars. He went deep-sea fishing. David had grabbed $50,000 cash, but could figure out only how to carry $25,000 with him on the plane. The bizarre true story of the criminals behind the second-largest bank heist in American history. Kelly would only discover later that leading up to the heist, Steve had been writing bad checks, $17,000 worth, for which he would later be convicted. The platform is designed to engage citizens and government leaders in a discussion about what needs improvement across the country. I loved it. You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or Twitter.com/TheGazetteKevin. He was doing what the rest of us were doing making bad decisions. The Columbia airport had no available flights. Ghantt was apprehended in Mexico and returned to the United States in custody. 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. As with Kelly, the worst blotch on 29-year-old Eric's record until now was a driving-while-intoxicated conviction. I just had to call you., Today, Ghantt cant look back on the whole ordeal without some degree of pride. He has no contact with any of those convicted with him in the crime, including his former wife, and doesn't plan to see the movie, he said. Going south, nobody really looks at what youre shipping. You can garnish wages. ". In real life: Mostly true. Inside were, along with other personal items, his keys and wedding ring. I think I always knew that, but lost my way for a while.". Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. I can take it.". At first, David Ghantt said, "I didn't take her seriously. Steve told me to tell [David] whatever was necessary to keep him happy.". Like David, Kelly was frustrated with her marriage. I missed my wife. To celebrate Halloween, about seven of Steve's friends, including Eric Payne and Kelly, gathered for a party at Steve's house. "We had David Ghantt and Kelly Campbell tied together, and we had Steven Chambers and Eric Payne with unexplained wealth, but we didn't have a tie between them," Agent John Wydra said. There was in fact a basically similar conversation involving Chambers and Campbell that took place during a barbecue the Campbells were hosting. Our success depends on our team members, and that's why it's important for us to offer an employee benefits program that is not only extremely comprehensive but also one of the best in the industry. The barrels were Steves idea, Ghantt says. But as soon as he drove off, I went right back in and opened the vault. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM 1998 and ACTORS IN MOVIE. Filming in the Asheville area starting in early July, and is. Eventually, Steve made Kelly believe they could steal from Loomis and get away with it, she said. He had an endearing smile, a beautiful wife and two children. Ghantt, meanwhile, was losing his patience and starting to make threats. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP), Police: Officer Who Shot Black Man Retired 'In Bad Standing', 3 Kansas City Officers Who Were Shot Released From Hospital, 1 Killed When Business Jet Encounters Severe Turbulence. ". He rewarded Robert with $3,000 and vowed never to meet McKinney alone. 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. Given his position at the bank, hed be the one to pull off the robbery, and he intended to be ready. She didn't plan to move to Mexico. David quickly realized he was the intended victim. They entered their dogs in fights and watched them die. His name was Corey. Steve had already paid McKinney $50,000 for the use of his ID. 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. In real life: False. But it wasnt. Given the presence of the surveillance tapes and a gun belonging to Ghantt, they started with Ghantts phone and pager records and discovered a pattern they attributed to an accomplice. Fourteen defendants were ordered to make restitution payments to Loomis Fargo totaling almost $19 million. For reasons that remain obscure, Robert spilled the beans to David. Campbell, a mother of two, was in the process of divorcing her. Kelly says she underestimated the value of her life before the heist. The FBI, in fact, obtained the evidence they needed to bring down the major players, including Chambers, after catching them talking about the murder plot on the telephone via wiretap. Why had he ever believed he'd get it? Michele received the best gift of the night. I wanted to make a drastic change and I went for it," Ghantt said. They cursed. Butcher says the federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina have never handled a case quite like Loomis. Loomis officials--forced to break into their own vault because David had taken the keys with him--calculated that he had stolen $17,044,000, making the second biggest heist in U.S. history, following the $18.8 million theft of an armored car by another Loomis Fargo employee just six months earlier. She just called me up on the phone and said, Hey, lets meet one day after work. And then, we were talking and she says, How do you feel about robbing Loomis Fargo? Ghantt tells me. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. It affects everybody different. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP) The Associated Press, BY MICHAEL GORDON, The Charlotte Observer. At one point, the hoodlum shows up and Ghantt is wearing a Jerome Bettis Pittsburgh Steelers jersey; the hoodlums favorite team is the Steelers, and he caves and tells Ghantt that McKinney wants him dead. I did every touristy thing you could possibly do while I was down there. In the first days after the arrests, agents recovered or accounted for all but about $2 million of the stolen money. Thatd be the time to do it, Ghantt recalls. Twelve hours later, at 6 that evening, Eric Payne drove a rented Budget van to his workplace, a graphics company on Performance Road in western Mecklenburg County called Reynolds & Reynolds, which was closed for the night and had a secluded parking lot where they intended to transfer the cash. When he said, 'I'll give you $20,000 to hold a million,' I said, 'Sure.' My love for my family is by far the most important thing in my life. It was an ear-biting, Pierce Brosnan-loving, comet-obsessed world, and were here to relive every minute of it. Thats nearly $11 million less than former Kings Mountain resident David Ghantt (played by Galifianakis in the film) helped steal from the vault where he worked in Charlotte back in October 1997. Steve led the planning. Or that hed gotten lucky gambling. ". . I would call us friends. Purchases included a pool table, jewelry (including a $43,000 diamond ring), a minivan, $20,000 worth of cigars, and the 7,000-square-foot home on the side of Cramer. "I said, 'Yeah, sure.' One number is working in Campbells favor. His new life in Mexico had begun. "I'd been told all my life, money will not make you happy," Kelly said. As soon as you put that first bag of stolen money in that van, theres no going back. At the party, Steve invited Michele's stepfather, truck driver Dennis Floyd, to the basement to play pool. I wish them all a happy life and that's about it. A week later, another informant told the FBI that Eric Payne had quit his job at a printing company soon after the heist and was spending money he probably hadn't earned legally. When Chambers and the two Erics were done loading the stolen millions into barrels, they abandoned the van in the woods. If you want me to leave, Ill leave. Then, Ghantt went into another room. Some days, the robbery seems like a memory from a different life, a choice made by a different man. I said, Probably, the best time would be on the weekend; theres fewer people there. He hated the sweet smell of the green ink, and the $8.15-an-hour salary.
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