Had Sherlock Holmes existed in real life, perhaps the 7 largest unsolved heists in the world would have been worked out with the money recovered and the perpetrators responsible behind bars. But our world is not perfect, and criminals, those with an above average IQ at least, are able to make off with unfathomable amounts of money, living the remainder of their life in luxury.
The cases in this list are incredible not just because of the amount of money the transgressors made off with, but the methods employed to remain untraceable and successfully escape, despite the law using all of its resources to capture the criminals. I have always been a fan of daring heists, and some of these robberies are actually inspired by movies. Of course, often even the most daring of heists are caught, as in the Swedish Helicopter Heist, where a gang of criminals stole a helicopter to further steal cash deposits. The ingenuity lays in the fact that the police were unable to use their own choppers since the gang had left a bag at the hangar which was marked ‘bomb’. You might be wondering why I’m mentioning it here instead of in my list. The reason is that despite all these precautions, everyone involved was subsequently arrested and convicted. Had they not been convicted, they would definitely have been included because they stole so much money – the Swedish police warned that Stockholm’s ATMs could run out of cash.
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On the other hand, if the amount wasn’t stolen, we would have definitely included D.B. Cooper (not his real name, because no one was able to figure out who he was), a man who could be called the most polite hijacker in the world. After hijacking the flight and claiming there was a bomb in his bag (remember this was in 1971 when TSA and security checks barely existed), he was delivered $200,000 and parachutes which he used to jump off the plane, never to be found. If you are more interested regarding financial, nonviolent crimes, however, you might be interested in the 10 High Profile White Collar Criminals and Their Crime Cases in America.
There are some crimes which we could not include on the list of largest unsolved heists in the world because while the perpetrators were never apprehended, it wasn’t because no one knew who committed the crime. For this, I point out Saddam Hussein, who in 2001, while acting as the President of Iraq, told his son to take an astounding $1 billion from the Iraqi Central Bank, just one day before the US invasion began. People suspected that the funds were withdrawn to help him fight off the US, and gave President Bush another reason to damn Saddam’s character and build support for the war.
Our list of largest unsolved heists in the world includes heists that saw both a large sum of money being stolen and the perpetrators never being identified or apprehended. The list is ranked by amount of money stolen, so the highest amount will be at the top. While I don’t endorse this behavior, it is certainly fun to read about hijinks that robbers got up in order to pull off the 7 largest unsolved heists in the world.
7. The French Bank Vault Tunnelers
Amount stolen: $34.3 million
This has been regarded as the crime of the century in France, considering not just the daring attitude exhibited by the robbers but the cunning and tactics employed by them. In a theme which is recurring in this article, the robbers spent a long time weakening the walls of the bank through a neighboring cellar. They would enter the cellar and use pick axes or even flame throwers to weaken the walls, which were over 31 inches thick! Never let it be said that thieves are not hard workers. Once they weakened the walls enough to break them, they entered the Credit Lyonnais branch, which had been closed for refurbishment at the time, which is probably one of the primary reasons why the specific branch was chosen. Once they entered the bank, they subdued the guard present and tied him up before warning him that sudden movements would likely end in his death. They then had the luxury of time, spending hours emptying more than 200 safes before leaving. They were so well rehearsed that they even set a fire once they were done, which set off the bank’s sprinklers so that the water would destroy any evidence that they might leave behind. It goes without saying that the gang is still at large and probably living a good life. Since no one was identified, they don’t even need to sneak around but can enjoy their illegal earnings to the maximum.
6. British Bank of the Middle East
Amount stolen: $20-50 million
Carried out in 1976, it is impossible to determine the exact amount stolen since the robbery took place in Beirut by a group which had ties with the Palestine Liberation Organization in the midst of civil war. This is one of the few robberies in the 7 largest unsolved heists in the world where brute force replaced tactics and precision, as the men blew up a wall of the bank before using locksmiths to open the bank vaults and help themselves to gold bars. It is said that the value of the gold bars has actually doubled since the initial robbery, which means this was a very profitable job for the gang involved. Once again, no arrests were made, though considering the climate of the country when the job was carried out, this should not come as much of a surprise.
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5. Northern Bank Robbery
Amount stolen: $51.2 million
We are continuing our list of largest unsolved heists in the world with terrorist groups who need funds to survive, as appealing for donations is a tactic that doesn’t always yield the desired results. With this in mind, the IRA invaded the homes of two employees, holding their family hostage while forcing the employees to go about their day as usual. These employees were then forced to let the IRA members into the vault, where they gathered their illegal gains. The robbery was the biggest in UK history at the time and came at politically tense times. However, despite numerous efforts, no one was convicted.
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4. Banco Itau Burglary
Amount stolen: $58.6 million
This is the biggest jewelry robbery to have taken place in Brazil, yet most of the perpetrators and nearly all of the money is still unaccounted for. 12 men wearing gray uniforms and claiming to be furnishing workers entered the bank with ease. This was because renovations were being done in the bank and the guards were told to expect such workers. The men then spent the next 10 hours calmly looting strongboxes, which belonged to some of the bank’s wealthiest clients. Without firing a single shot, the burglars made off with a fortune, and though some were identified later on, most were never caught. This story definitely deserved a spot on our list of largest unsolved heists in the world, right?
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2. The Graff Diamonds Heist
Amount stolen: $65 million
While the actual thieves were discovered after an extensive investigation, the crime involved dozens of people, including the London mob, and none of the main men were ever identified or captured. The men paid a make-up artist to help them appear as much older men, before entering the store and asking to see the jewelry. However, once they were shown the jewelry, they pulled out their guns and demanded the clerks to clear out all the jewelry they had, worth approximately $65 million. When the police showed up to arrest the burglar, their mob connections came in handy. The mob arranged for cars to be parked in a way that completely blocked access to the store, allowing the thieves to get away and get rid of the diamonds before being arrested. Now, what story comes next on our list of largest unsolved heists in the world.
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2. Banco Central Burglary
Amount stolen: $65 million
This robbery was something out of a story. The thieves bought a house close to the bank, after which they set about digging a 200-meter tunnel from the house to the bank. They claimed that the house was being used for the construction of artificial turf, thus explaining why they were hauling away tons of soil away from the house. This team of six to ten men then dug their way into the bank and made off with 3.5 tons of cash, which was uninsured since the denomination of the currency was just 50 reals, leading to another dilemma for the bank.
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1. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Robbery
Amount stolen: $500 million
Topping the list of the 7 largest unsolved heists in the world is the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Theft, which cost the museum around half a billion dollars! The robbery was as simple as it was brilliant. In 1990, two men entered the museum, dressed as police officers. They told the guard present that they were simply responding to a disturbance call, and the guard let them enter. Yes, the security was atrocious. Once inside, they overpowered the guards and tied them up, allowing them hours to gather the paintings they wanted to steal and then leaving with them. They stole just 14 artworks with a combined worth of $500 million and were never caught despite numerous attempts by police and even the FBI. The museum doesn’t even care about the identity of the people who stole the paintings, they said they are only concerned with recovering the art.
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