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. David Scott Ghantt, 28, was arrested Sunday on an island off the Mexican coast, near the resort city of Cozumel, FBI spokesman William Perry said today. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. This story was originally published October 1, 2017, 6:44 PM. David Ghantt : Oh, Rio, yeah, yeah. The Loomis Fargo heist happened in Charlotte, North Carolina when this bank was the target of a robbery. ``There are many people with those factors who don't resort to crime,' he said. 2023 www.gastongazette.com. Campbell, 29, had pleaded guilty to charges of bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder. It's said that Chambers approached Campbell in the summer of 1997 about executing a $17.3 million robbery (which today means $ 25.9 million) at her former job. Steve and Michelle Chambers, who had lived in a mobile home, bought a mansion in Cramer Mountain. stockpile guns, Timeline puts Murdaugh at crime scene, SC prosecutor says in trial closing after Moselle visit, Get ready for less sleep in Charlotte. }, First published on March 2, 1998 / 2:20 PM. He was eventually approached to be a consultant for the 2016 movie Masterminds, which is based on the Loomis Fargo heist. Campbellwho was married herselfrepresented something new and exciting. That 3-carat ring came back to haunt Michele Chambers at Tuesday's hearing. In order to receive more evidence, the FBI decided to listen. It was nearly the perfect crime, but while Ghantt fled to Mexico to lay low, his partners lavish spendingand their own alleged plans for murderwould ultimately be the groups demise. On Oct. 4, 1997, former Kings Mountain resident David Scott Ghantt finished his shift as a vault supervisor for Loomis Fargo in Charlotte. Did you get paid? Subsequently, he was to take out as much cash as he could and load it up in a van. In 97 me and my wife were just barely scraping by, Ghantt recalled in Mondays episode. Question: Are you happy that Wilkesboro-nativeZach Galifianakis plays you in the movie? When Loomis Fargo employees could not open the vault the following day, they called authorities, and the investigation was started. The next day, before Mike was able to leave the country, the FBI arrested him in his hotel room. In this action comedy based on true events, David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis) discovers the true meaning of adventure far beyond his wildest dreams. It was here that the money was moved from the armored car to private vehicles. Chambers, who still lives in Gaston County and operates a gym, declined to comment. display: none; 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. He worked close-by to where the van and over $3 million dollars had been ditched, and was friends with Steve Chambers. Ghantt was the vault manager and was surrounded daily by millions of dollars-worth of temptation. With Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson, Ross Kimball. Before the robber left Loomis Fargo, he made a trip to the managers office to remove two surveillance tapes in order to conceal his identity. Chambers promised to wire him money in Mexico until the investigation blew over and Ghantt could return to . We are talking about the 1997 Loomis Fargo heist. Where things stand in the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial I worked sometimes 75-80 hours a week for $ 8.15 an hour, I didn't even have a real life at home because I was never there, I worked all the time and was unhappy, which is understandable considering how old I was then. He was like OK, yeah, we can do that, she recalled. I knew it was over then, Ghantt said. $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. When Ghantt called Campbell asking for more money, a plan was set in motion to take him out. When Ghantt called Campbell however, the FBI was able to track his location, and arrested him with the help of the Mexican police onMarch 1, 1998. Loomis Fargo & Company was established in 1997 by the consolidation of Wells Fargo Armored Service and Loomis Armored Inc. During the next few months they bought a BMW-Z3 roadster and tens of thousands of dollars in antiques, furniture and decorations. At the time . Shortly after, investigators found Ghantt's pickup truck abandoned at the warehouse. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM 1998 and ACTORS IN MOVIE. What we know. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, Nebraska cheerleader competes by herself at state competition, but crowd doesn't let her feel alone. NEWS. I knew I was going to be the prime suspect. The old man me would never survive that, Id have a heart attack.. Afterward, outside the courthouse, her parents said the length was about what she had expected. Lawsuits claim it wrecked their teeth. Steven Chambers, left, and David Scott Ghantt leave federal court. After years of working hard, the realisation hit him that he was working 75-80 hrs a week for $8.15 an hour which left him feeling unhappy. Looking back at the Loomis heist. 0:44. But former Kings Mountain resident David Scott Ghantt can. You have to remember that it's Hollywood and they'll take what was a minor event and they'll blow it up and make it as funny as they can.". Ghantt:It's kid-friendly, it's family-friendly (the movie is rated PG-13). David wrote her first book "Self-Awareness for Beginners" and now teaches courses and retreats on self-awareness. display: none; He had said, then reflecting on the events: "I wouldn't have thought about it before, but one day life kind of hit me in the face. FBI agents got to him first. 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 . Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. A connection between each suspect began to emerge slowly, and as the intensity of spending grew, suspicion did as well. The move bought him a little extra time to make his escape. The defendants received sentences ranging from probation for several relatives to over 11 years in federal prison for Steve Chambers. David Ghantt's fame was short-lived as he was a prime suspect from the start. : The $17 Million Loomis Fargo Theft. Question: Do you ever think you could have been killed? Steve Chambers would keep the rest . All Rights Reserved. Of course, I went on a spending spree. When the FBI recorded a phone call from Ghantt in Mexico, the final connection was made. Inside $3.3 million was located along with the two stolen surveillance tapes, apparently left due to the robber and his accomplices being sloppy, or in a hurry. Answer It is based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo Robbery in North Carolina, which was the subject of the 2016 American comedy film Masterminds. They also bought a BMW Z3 with cash and made several large purchases, not wanting to keep a low profile. The affidavit also cited telephone conversations between Steve Chambers and McKinney that indicated they may have been plotting Ghantt's murder in Mexico only days ago. . Steve and Michelle Chambers moved from a mobile home into the $635,000 house. The Chambers traded in their trailer for a $635,000 mansion in Cramer Mountain - bought with mostly $20 . But as she didnt want to seem suspicious, she just asked the teller, how much could she deposit without attracting the attention of the feds. In his hurry, Ghantt had simply overlooked the third security camera. David Ghantt took $50,000 for himself and fled to Cozumel, Mexico. Please subscribe to keep reading. In fact, they got carried away and upgraded to a sudden lavish lifestyle. CHARLOTTE Tuesday marked 25 years since one of the biggest armored car heists in U.S. history, and it all went down in Charlotte. 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 . Regular folks, big dreams and a ton of money: How the Loomis Fargo heist happened. Ghantt and seven others eventually pleaded guilty in federal court to charges . 20 years ago, on the night of October 4, 1997, David Scott Ghantt loaded $17.3 million of cash from the bank vault in Charlotte, North Carolina he was employed to supervise into a van. Surveillance tapes and photographs showed a man who the FBI believes is Ghantt taking bags of money and putting them onto a cart in the vault at Loomis, Fargo's offices in Charlotte. In addition, he also rented Mike his own apartment, paid him $400/weekly and bought him a gun. Despite working for a company that regularly relocates millions of dollars, David Ghantt himself was underpaid. However, he would leave the bulk of the cash with Chambers. (I) bought jewelry, bought a van, Campbell recalled of her own spending. 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. The Loomis Fargo heist: 25 years later The case had gotten national publicity and was the subject of numerous articles, documentaries and even a movie. Federal Judge Graham Mullen sentenced her to between those lengths. 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. The Gaston Gazette interviewed Ghantt, whos now in his late 40s and living as a free man in Florida. FBI video shows agents searching the Cramer Mountain home and finding stacks of cash. The images of the aftermath the huge house on Cramer Mountain with its leopard-print carpet, the blue barrels full of money, the lonely hotel room in Playa del Carmen where Ghantt ate M&Ms instead of going to the beach endured long after 21 people were convicted for their connections to the heist. Everything came crashing down on an early March morning in 1998. Her husband, Steve Chambers, whom prosecutors have called the main defendant, began serving an 11-year sentence earlier this year. Twenty years ago this Wednesday, a small group of people stole $17 million in cash from the main vault of a Loomis Fargo & Co. armored-car warehouse in west Charlotte. Agents raided safe deposit boxes, where they recovered more than $11 million. Most people are going to forgive you. ``This defendant was second to Steve Chambers in (benefiting) from the crime,' he said. 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