Bank Heist in Brazil

[newtron]

Wow, they dug a tunnel underneath the bank to the vault and got away with 156 million reais ($68 million). I know it is crime and it's wrong, but a job like this where nobody got physically injured or killed deserves a little respect.

What is it that is so intriguing about the perfect bank robbery?

[woofgang]

That money belonged to people who had worked hard to get it. If the bank was insured then the insurance company would cough up, thus putting up the cost of insurance....this is not victimless crime and deserves NO respect

[georgit79]

It was 200m long, wasn't it? That is looooong! There'll be a film about this in a couple of years.

[newtron]

You are right woofgang, but you have to admit that there is something about the "perfect bank robbery" that intrigues people.  There are many movies about a group of master minds that get together to to pulloff the perfect heist, and some bank robbers are almost given hero status after they die.  Maybe the word "respect was the wrong word to use, but the question was really about why high tech bank robbery is viewed differently from most other crimes by most people.  Is it because it takes intelligence and a lot if intricate planning?  Is it about the adventure?  I think that many people have a bank robbery fantasy.  A while back, a question was asked about wether or not you would take part in a bank robbery if it was guaranteed that you wouldn't get caught, and I think most people answered yes.

[OBonio]

Sounds exactly like The Lady Killers with Tom Hanks. Maybe they based it on that!

[jake-the-peg]

Wasn't Booldawg going on about a change in career to "International Jewel Thief" in Jobs and Careers the other day.

I wonder Hmmmm (strokes chin)

[ICEMANSAV]

do you know where I can see the report? cheers

[newtron]

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/08/08/brazil.heist.reut/index.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/08/10/brazil.heist.ap/index.html

Here you go ICEMANSAV.

[ICEMANSAV]

thanks newtron

[MargeB]

georgi, if I had one pound for the number of times I'm told that phrase...

[MargeB]

I must admit to thinking "woooooow" when I saw it. The 'turf shop' was just genius.

I have seen the film 'Heat' (don't get me started). It has what has been described as one of the best bank heist scenes ever. A short time after release, some crew tried a perfect copy cat (right down to waiting for the special bags that they use), but got caught. 

There's something 'less unacceptable' about bank robbery, if it works. The problem many people have with criminals is that they're just stupid: if you want to make money, join in the fun and try to play the game like the rest of us: you're just robbing because you're too daft to get money the real way. Big heist bank robbers, on the other hand.....

[Andy008]

It isn't a robbery, it is merely a theft, albeit a hell of a theft. The intriguing factor is that few people can imagine what it must be like to have the sheer brass neck to do something do that.

[Andy008]

The Dome Robbers would have had many people's support for doing something so almost mythically cheeky, were it not for a particularly violent robbery in South London some months earlier.

Gang member Lee Wenham gave them away made two visits in one week to the Dome, stopping to take photos of the diamonds. Which in hindsight, was rather silly.

[MargeB]

Yeah, good point. "Nice bank, bet they got loadsa cash." "Right, we'll buy a shop way over there, pretend it sells turf. Then we'll dig a tunnel for 200 metres, over a period of 3 months, deactivate the sensors, and take all 3 tons of cash over a weekend." Amazing.

[twiglet4frog]

perfect robbery? to get a camcorder and do a documentary of yourself doing the tunnel, deactivating the sensors, breaking into the vault unaware, and then film themselves taking all the money and then putting it all back and leaving without taking a single penny!

This would mean that u never actually stole anything so theft is not a charge, intent to steal isnt allowed as u can document yourself at the beginning saying u wont take a penny, and the only charges would be breaking and entering, of which u could get a lesser sentance.

And the reward? The media sales of your documentary recording, the film rights to the movie, the book rights to the novel, and interviews etc, would make a huge profit, not to mention international stardom!