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. He talks about how he informs employers about his criminal . Authorities began to hone in on the group and put a wire tap on Campbell's phones. 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. Question: Should people go see this movie? As Ghantt was the only employee absent, he was marked as the obvious suspect. Probably very egotistical of me, I though yeah, sure, I can beat them, theyre college smart and thats about it, Ghantt said. Steve had hired a bodyguard named Mike McKinney. Well, we bring to you a bank heist so ridiculous and poorly planned, that you will think I can plan a better heist!. Almost 19 years after Ghantt and a group of friends from Gaston County pulled off one of the largest cash heists in U.S. history, the movie "Masterminds" will play up the caper for laughs. Eventually, the two teamed up with a few other people and hatched plans for a heist. The FBI investigation was able to connect Ghantt to Campbell quickly. Pocketing $50,000 for himself, that man, named David Ghantt . It was over. This caused them just to leave the cash they could not take with them in the back of the van. Once Ghantt loaded the large haul from the vaultwhich could have been close to $20 millioninto a truck, he planned to drive to a second location, then head straight to the airport and fly to Mexico. Perry identified the other six people arrested as Steve and Michelle Chambers; Kelly Jane Campbell, a former Loomis employee; Michael L. McKinney; Thomas Nathan Grant; and Eric Haley Payne. First, they tapped the Chambers phone, and began listening in on February 11th, 1998. As Campbell would later explain, If David got killed, there couldnt be any finger pointing. All but one took plea deals, including Ghantt, who was sentenced to seven years in prison. In real-life, Ghantt, then 27, used his access to swipe $17 million, later fleeing to Mexico with $25,000 of it stashed into the legs of pantyhose that he wore as a money belt; while he waited . Sun, sand and beaches are all part of why Jacksonville, Florida is a popular destination. Bipartisan Senate group unveils rail safety bill in response to Ohio derailment, What to know about Shigella bacteria as drug-resistant strain spreads, Flying bug found at Walmart turns out to be rare Jurassic-era insect, Elizabeth Holmes has second child, seeks to delay prison, Where things stand in the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial. 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 theyve ever had. Channel 9 speaks with the man at the center of Loomis Fargo heist 25 years ago. $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. They drove off to a printing business called Reynolds & Reynolds in northwest Charlotte. Top McCarthy aide, House Oversight chair each met with Ashli Babbitt's mother From my standpoint it was just a business deal, Ghantt said. Did you get paid? Curiously, Payne had recently paid of his Visa in one payment and had been driving around new and rented vehicles for the past weeks. A connection between each suspect began to emerge slowly, and as the intensity of spending grew, suspicion did as well. The plan was to maintain a low profile and wait for things to cool off, allowing Ghantt to return to the states and collect his cut. LRM had an exclusive phone . I knew it was just a matter of time. When Loomis Fargo employees could not open the vault the following day, they called authorities, and the investigation was started. Hes a family man with a wife and daughter. Ghantt: My cut was supposed to be about $5 million, but that's not what I ended up with. David Ghantt : Oh, Rio, yeah, yeah. More than 2 million dollars are still missing to this day. Armored car driver David Ghantt, played here by Zach Galifianakis, conspired with friends of his crush Kelly Campbell, played by Kristen Wiig, to steal $17 million in cash from the company . They both made jokes about their work and how they would rather rob the place than continue with their underpaid job. When to set your clocks for daylight saving time, A raw bar, Asian restaurant, ice cream shop and arcade debut at Concord food hall. Im married, I got one girl, shes 15 going on 30. Chambers also promised to join Ghantt in Mexico as soon as she could, but she admitted to Super Heists she never had any intention of actually making the trip. Another name the FBI had become very interested in is Eric Payne. "I'm glad I've grown out of that.". Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded daily by millions of dollars-worth of temptation. Watch Live: Closing arguments underway in double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh, Top McCarthy aide, House Oversight chair each met with Ashli Babbitt's mother, Colon cancer rates rising in younger age group, study finds, Garland testifies before Senate panel amid ongoing special counsel probes, Ex-Georgia star Jalen Carter was racing in deadly crash, arrest warrants allege, Fiery train crash in Greece kills dozens, many of them students. All Rights Reserved. Finally, despite a few hiccups, Ghantt successfully made his way to Mexico with $50,000 in hand. Downtown Asheville was cast as a movie set this week, as a major motion picture production filmed in the city center on Tuesday and Wednesday. During the next few months they bought a BMW-Z3 roadster and tens of thousands of dollars in antiques, furniture and decorations. Kelly Campbell: Oh, my gosh. David Ghantt may have walked out of the Loomis Fargo heist with the money in hand but then the problems started piling up. Question: You were a consultant? By Sue Anne Pressley. Let me see! David Ghantt : Yeah. During the hearing, Culler recounted his client's difficult personal life: her parents' divorce when she was 2 or 3 years old; a teenage stay in a Baptist Children's home; a teenage pregnancy; and various medical conditions. Ghantt:I don't think he ever really meant to harm me. They both made jokes about their work and how they would rather rob the place than continue with their underpaid job. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed That first day in prison was scary, Ghantt said. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. . David Ghantt served as an unpaid consultant to the film. His partners, who planned to stay behind, agreed to send him his full cut of the money after the heat from investigators had died down. Masterminds: Directed by Jared Hess. A woman by the name of Kelly Campbell had worked there in 1996, and she and Ghantt had become friends in that time. FINANCE. The others, though, went no farther than Cramer Mountain. Kelly Campbell is scheduled to be sentenced in October. The FBI began to question past and current employees of Loomis Fargo. February 18, 1999. 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. 3 million in cash from the Charlotte, North Carolina . Chambers, who still lives in Gaston County and operates a gym, declined to comment. This opportunity was forged by Chambers and supported by Campbell earlier in the summer. An armored car driver suspected of taking $17 million from his company's vault has been captured in Mexico after a manhunt of nearly five months. Once they were in custody, the overwhelming task of clearing out possessions possibly purchased with the stolen money began. He attended the big Los Angeles premiere and enjoyed being a part of it. It all went down in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the man at the center of that heist, David Scott Ghantt, now lives in Jacksonville. He rarely went to the nearby beach, she said. One day, the two employees were in the break room and got to talking about the news of the day a massive bank heist that just occurred in Florida by someone at their company. 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. AP. David Ghantt was living an equally luxurious life in Mexico. His coworker Kelly Campbell began to listen. Who all wanted a Rambo movie which explored his time training as a green beret and his time serving in Vietnam as a prequel to first blood WATCH Antebellum 2020 FULL MOVIE, Your email address will not be published. The FBI continues to search for a missing $2 million from the theft. Authorities were notified of the robbery in the morning, when employees couldnt open the vault. Agents found out where Ghantt was living because Chambers had put out a hit on him, foolishly believing Ghantt was the only person the FBI had fingered for the crime. Ghantt, his former co-worker Kelly Campbell and her friends Steve and Michelle Chambers carried out the Loomis Fargo heist on Oct. 4, 1997. Ghantt:It baffles me to this day. Consequently, they called the police. 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 . My knee-jerk reaction was to be angry, and then the sarcastic ass side of me started laughing about it, Ghantt said. Soon thereafter, he met Kelly Campbell, a co-worker at Loomis Fargo. Investigators eventually connected Campbell and Chambers to the robbery, which led to the arrest of more than 20 people. Authorities say Steve and Michele Chambers moved from a mobile home into a $635,000 house three weeks after the theft. Authorities said they hired a man named Michael McKinney to meet up with Ghantt and kill him, under the guise that he was planning to give Ghantt more of the money he was owed. Steve decided to send his cousin, Nathan with money down to Mexico as a ruse, while Mike the bodyguard would follow behind to take care of Ghantt. 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. Gaston County residents remember how that worked out. Today's guest author is David Ghantt. The tapes showed Ghantt removing cash cubes and loading them into a Loomis Fargo armored van for over an hour. Few who were living in the area at the time can forget the "Velvet Elvis" painting Chambers had hanging in his mansion or the tales of cosmetic surgery, BMW convertibles and other signs of excess. We would like to show you a description here but the site won't allow us. David Ghantt had been a model employee for an armored car company before pulling off the second biggest cash heist in U.S. history, fleeing with more than . The FBI says Chambers hired a hit man to tie up the ultimate loose end -- Ghantt. The next morning, the vault at Loomis Fargo could not be opened, so the employees called the police. Culler acknowledged that she had overheard her husband and co-defendant Kelly Campbell talk about the plan, ``but she thought it was fantasy world.'. Six other people also were arrested, including a couple who suddenly moved from a trailer to a $635,000 house. . David Ghantt took $50,000 for himself and fled to Cozumel, Mexico. Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later David Ghantt took $50,000 for himself and fled to Cozumel, Mexico. In total, 24 people were convicted and all but one of the accused pleaded guilty. But before the hit could be carried out, the FBI swooped in and arrested Ghantt and the others. As Ghantt and seven others await hearings on charges from the October theft, authorities still have a big unanswered question: Where's most of the money? Then Campbell turned his attention to her boyfriend. "So it's one thing to go from up here, thought, to action," he said. He was doing what the rest of us were doing making bad decisions. On the evening ofOctober 4, 1997, the Loomis Fargo & Co branch in Charlotte, North Carolina was in the process of being plundered. He wasnt just being paranoid. Not all of them, but some of them are going to forgive you, theyre going to overlook it., he said. They got to work planning the straightforward heist that would rely on Ghantts existing access to the vault, fewer staff at the warehouse on the weekends, and the ability to use one of the companys armored trucks to make the successful getaway. But neither of those things would matter after he met Kelly Campbell. 25 years later David Ghantt took $50,000 for himself . He have since served time in prison for the crime, and told Channel 9s Glenn Counts he learned a valuable lesson while behind bars. Over 88% of the money has been recovered since the heist. Ghantt was working as a Loomis Fargo security when he committed the robbery, and Campbell had . The tapes showed Ghantt removing cash cubes and loading them into a $ 635,000 house weeks. Ghantt took $ 50,000 for himself all but one of the Loomis heist!, or redistributed that first day in prison was scary, Ghantt said underpaid job a... 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