- A gang of criminals spent three months digging a 256 -foot tunnel to storm the Brazilian Central Bank.
- Thieves created fake works to coordinate gardens as a cover for the complex tunnels.
- Even after two decades, the mastermind of theft and most million Australian dollars still cannot be tracked to this day.
Some theft dirty destroyed, while others are brilliantly planning and implemented that they have disturbed the line between crime and art. The world has definitely witnessed legendary speeds Theft of a large train and Belgian diamond theft. But the 2005 cento burglary in Fortalisa, Brazil, ended up until it became more criminal symphony than a simple crime.
This was the largest banking raid in the country and included careful planning with the level of boldness that was outside the plans. Nearly $ 70 million (about $ 110 million Australian dollars) disappeared at the end of this week, and after two decades, most of them – and the mastermind – the story of ghosts still confused the authorities to this day.
Ideal cover story
The process started with careful attention to the details that left you, admiring the thieves nerve. They rented a small house away from the bank and opened the “Grama Sintetica” (ASTRO TURF), a fake garden company.
Even the house got a function of fresh green coating and the neighbors received charming leaflets providing services in the park. It was a white truck with the company’s logo regularly stopped at the forefront. Passersy saw the landscape crew, and no one suspected an underground operation that brewed under their feet.
Seeing the tunnel at another level
However, behind the back door of the house, it was less than roses and more risk. In a bedroom, it was a construction site, the gang got a 256 -foot tunnel towards the central Banco cellar. When you depicted the pits of an underground hole, you depict dirt and sweat, but these were not ordinary criminals, so a touch of their tunnel was a touch of rest as well.
The tunnel had wooden beams for support, light lamps and even the air conditioning system because, apparently, even criminals do not like sweating too much while withdrawing high risk theft. The corridor was three meters underground and twisted under the regional stock exchange, and each inch was planned to the smallest details.
Go without trace
Then the weekend came from August 6 to 7, 2005 and was Showtime. The crew hacked the ground and cut two meters of concrete. Their patience resulted, at home, and they found stacked money in elegant packages – 3.5 tons of them, at a value of about 70 million dollars. In any rush at all and without an ounce of panic, the gang stored its truck and left behind only juice boxes and empty energy drinks as evidence of its existence.
The theft has not been discovered until Monday morning. The bank employees only recorded to find a large hole in the cellar floor and followed by comprehensive panic. The authorities were quick, but it is clear that thieves have long been gone. An investigation was conducted, which led to more than 150 arrests and the restoration of $ 9 million. But the main players and the man behind the operation, Paulo Sergio, along with the largest part of the stolen money disappeared like the final verb of the magician.
Today, twenty years later, the question remains: Will Paulo Sergio sipping cocktails on a private island, or does the money disappear into a black hole in the underworld, cannot be seen again?