In October 1997, a fierce robbery shook the United States. The protagonist was David Ghantt, a Gulf War veteran and then-supervisor of the vault at the company Loomis Fargo, which specialized in armored transport in North Carolina.
Against all odds, this hitherto impeccable employee, poorly paid and overwhelmed by endless workdays, devised and executed, together with a group of accomplices, one of the greatest crimes in the country’s history.
On the night of October 4, together with his group, they managed to steal USD 17.3 million in cash, which positioned it as the second-largest cash robbery in the United States up to that time. The details of the plan and the outcome turned the heist into a media phenomenon that inspired films and fascinated for decades.
The theft of cash turned David Ghantt into the protagonist of one of the biggest heists in the United States.
The robbery not only drew attention for the millionaire sum, but also for the clumsiness and excesses that ended up giving the perpetrators away. While Ghantt escaped to Mexico, his partners could not resist the temptation to show off their sudden wealth, which triggered a federal investigation full of unexpected twists.
We recommend reading:
The story behind David Ghantt’s millionaire heist
The plan that led him to orchestrate the robbery arose from severe work fatigue. Ghantt felt overwhelmed by long hours and a salary that barely exceeded eight dollars an hour.
“I worked sometimes between 75 and 80 hours a week, I didn’t even have a normal family life because I was never home. I worked all the time and I was unhappy, which is understandable given my age,” Ghantt recalled about his life before the robbery, as reported by All That Interesting. Between jokes about how easy it would be to rob the place and casual conversations, the idea stopped seeming absurd and became a longing.
After the robbery, David Ghantt fled to Mexico with USD 50,000 while his accomplices kept the rest of the loot.
The definitive trigger was his relationship with Kelly Campbell, a former coworker for whom he felt a strong attraction. Although Campbell always denied that the relationship was romantic, both maintained contact after her departure from the company, explained Oxygen True Crime. She, in turn, shared the idea of the robbery with an old friend, Steve Chambers, who had a criminal record.
Thus, the three of them devised the plan: Ghantt would take advantage of his privileged access to the safe, stay after his shift, and, with the team’s complicity, they would load as much money as possible into a van. Although he earned little as a supervisor, Ghantt decided it was time to act: “I wasn’t happy with my life. I wanted a drastic change and I went for it,” he recalled in statements to the Gaston Gazette.
On October 4, 1997, they executed the heist. After his shift, he sent an employee home and disabled two security cameras. His accomplices arrived and loaded the van to the limit. The physical effort was total, Oxygen True Crime described: 1,270 kilograms of cash by himself.
The group did not foresee the weight of the stolen money and left part of the loot because the van could not carry all the cash.
The escape was immediate: Ghantt took USD 50,000, the maximum to cross borders without suspicion, and went to Mexico. For their part, Chambers and Campbell kept the rest of the loot and promised to send his share over time. The destination was Cozumel, in Mexico, where he tried to live a life without luxuries or impulsive spending. The agreement was simple: stay hidden while they sent him the money.
What mistakes ruined Ghantt’s millionaire robbery
The first major mistake happened the very night of the heist, when Ghantt, in his eagerness to prepare the safe, only deactivated two of the three security cameras. “I didn’t even know it and I overlooked it,” he admitted in statements reported by All That Interesting. The footage even captured him dancing after loading the money, a scene that later facilitated his identification.
The second mistake was underestimating the weight and volume of the stolen money. Although they planned to take an even larger sum, the group did not foresee that moving more than a thousand kilos of banknotes would be a titanic task. In the end, they had to leave behind several millions as not all the cash would fit, abandoning part of the loot and thus facilitating the police’s work.
The ostentation of Steve Chambers and Michelle Chambers, along with cash payments and Loomis Fargo bills, accelerated the FBI investigation (X / Twitter)
Another decisive error was the lack of discretion of the accomplices. Steve Chambers and his wife Michelle could not resist the temptation to show off their new fortune. They moved into a mansion, spending large sums on ostentatious items and making cash payments for luxury vehicles. In fact, the stacks of bills still had the Loomis Fargo wrappers on them, which immediately alerted bank staff and triggered a report.
In less than two days, the police recovered the van used in the robbery with three million dollars in cash and the security recordings inside. The Chambers’ ostentation and financial movements caught the attention of both the FBI and informants, precipitating the investigation. “I knew it was over then,” confessed Ghantt when he found out about the authorities’ intervention, reported Oxygen True Crime.
The trust that the partners would keep their word turned out to be another fatal mistake. When Ghantt began to run out of money in Mexico and asked for more funds, Chambers considered eliminating him to avoid problems, even going so far as to hire a hitman who ultimately could not carry out the assignment.
