Ghantt’s wife was reportedly nothing like the bizarre, robotic fiancée character in the film, for instance. According to the Charlotte Observer, “The place was huge, 7,000 square feet of fresh start and fine living: marble foyer, wet bar, wine cellar, enough bedrooms for their kids, a sunken master suite with fireplace and Jacuzzi. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Just after the last employees left that day, surveillance footage shows a man enter the vault, and begin to load more than 2,740 pounds in cash into a nearby van, Before the robber left Loomis Fargo, he made a trip to the manager’s office to remove two surveillance tapes in order to conceal his identity.Authorities were notified of the robbery in the morning, when employees couldn’t open the vault. "I thought he was goofing around." The FBI began to question past and current employees of Loomis Fargo.
After watching a news report on Phillip Johnson robbing from another Loomis Fargo bank, Steve concocts an idea to rob Loomis Fargo so they can escape their dead end lives and get away with some money. ``I … Remember to enjoy legally and responsibly!Now that you’ve got your hick-style margarita, are you ready for the case?In 1997, David Scott Ghantt was working as the vault supervisor at the regional branch of Loomis, Fargo & Co. in Charlotte, North Carolina. They had to be extremely careful not to tip off the group, as they could lose potential conspirators or more information important to a conviction.First, they tapped the Chambers phone, and began listening in on February 11th, 1998.In the first couple of weeks, they had heard both Steve and Shelley bragging about their new-found fortune, and spending remarkable amounts of money.
For a time, it was nicknamed "the It was later confirmed by the FBI that more than 88% of the stolen cash had been located or otherwise accounted for. Then he proceeded to load somewhere around $17.3 million in cash into the back of a company van. In total, 24 people were convicted. Inside the truck they discovered Ghantt’s wedding ring, which they assumed was a symbol of his intention to end that relationship. Ghantt told the Gaston Gazette, “I was unhappy with my life. The pressure was getting to her though. You see, there’s a reason Loomis Fargo used armored cars to move large amounts of cash. The thieves had simply abandoned whatever they couldn’t carry away. Ghantt would hide out in Mexico with $50,000, which was the maximum amount of cash allowed across the border by law. Although the FBI investigation was able to quickly connect Ghantt to Campbell, connecting Ghantt to Chambers was a more difficult task.The FBI investigation was aided by the gang's extravagant spending. The FBI began to question past and current employees of Loomis Fargo. The jokes between Ghantt and Campbell about their disgruntlement with their jobs took on a more serious note when Campbell introduced Ghantt to an old high school classmate of hers named Steve Chambers. Loomis, Fargo offered a $500,000 reward after the theft. Ghantt was working as a vault supervisor for Loomis Fargo in Charlotte in 1997, earning about $8 an hour and tired of his humdrum life. She wondered how much she could deposit without attracting the attention of the FBI, so she decided to just ask the teller:“How much can I deposit before you have to report it to the feds?” she asked. Kristen Wiig plays Kelly, who really wasn't that into David, but convinced him to take a fortune from Loomis Fargo in the fall of '97. Chambers reportedly told the movers that these barrels contained dog food, but in reality, this is where they stored the cash that didn’t get spent or stored in the bank. She had previously been making frequent small deposits to avert suspicion. Chambers had actually brought up the idea of robbing the vault earlier in the Summer after learning that Campbell had worked there. The only defendant to not plead guilty, Chambers' attorney Jeff Guller, was found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to eight years in prison. On March 12, a grand jury indicted all eight co-conspirators for both the charges of bank larceny and charges of money laundering because of how they spent the money. David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis), an employee of Loomis Fargo, robbed his own vault, left the $17.3 million in cash with his co-conspirators, Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig) and Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson) and fled the country to Mexico. Campbell, 29, had pleaded guilty to charges of bank larceny, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder. In August 1997, Campbell informed Ghantt of an old high school friend of hers, Steve Chambers, who could assist Ghantt in executing a massive cash robbery of the Loomis Fargo vault in one night. Two days later, investigators found the Loomis Fargo armored van with $3.3 million dollars in the back. Campbell and her husband had always been just scraping by, however in the weeks following the robbery, the two seemed to have more money than they’ve ever had. They drove off with the stolen cash to a printing business called Reynolds & Reynolds in northwest Charlotte.
It was an open-and-shut case and all authorities had to do now was to find the culprit and identify Ghantt’s accomplices.Campbell and Chambers made themselves easy to catch, what with their lavish spending. I wanted to get as far away as I could. I felt cornered and one day the joking in the break room about robbing the place suddenly didn’t seem so far-fetched.”So with the assistance of a co-worker and possible love interest as well as a small-time criminal, David Ghantt pulled off the then-second-largest cash heist in U.S. history.