On October 4, 1997, a quiet employee walked out of work… and took $17.3 million with him.
David Ghantt wasn’t a career criminal. He was a vault supervisor for Loomis Fargo, trusted with handling massive amounts of cash every day. But despite working around millions, he was underpaid, overworked, and increasingly frustrated with his life.
What started as a joke in the break room—robbing the place—slowly became real.
The plan came together with Kelly Campbell, a co-worker, and Steve Chambers, a small-time criminal. It sounded simple: Ghantt would stay behind after his shift, let them into the vault, load up as much cash as possible, then flee to Mexico with $50,000. Chambers would hold the rest and send him money until things cooled down.
There was just one problem.
Nothing guaranteed Chambers would actually share the money.
But Ghantt went through with it anyway.
That night, he sent a trainee home early, disabled two security cameras… but missed a third. That camera recorded everything—including Ghantt celebrating after loading the cash.
Inside the vault, they ran into another issue: the money was heavier than expected. They grabbed as much as they could carry and drove off with $17.3 million—making it one of the largest cash heists in U.S. history.
The next morning, when employees couldn’t access the vault, police were called. Ghantt was the only one missing. Within hours, security footage confirmed everything.
Two days later, authorities found the getaway van—with $3 million still inside.
The case was already falling apart.
Meanwhile, Chambers and his wife made things worse. They moved into a luxury home, spent wildly, bought expensive items, and even walked into a bank asking how much money could be deposited without alerting the FBI—while still using Loomis Fargo cash wrappers.
Suspicion turned into evidence almost instantly.
At the same time, Ghantt was in Mexico, living fast—luxury hotels, scuba diving, impulse shopping. But the money ran out quickly.
He started calling Chambers for more.
Instead of helping, Chambers hired a hitman to kill him.
But even that plan failed.
The hitman didn’t pull the trigger. Instead, he befriended Ghantt.
By March 1998, the FBI traced Ghantt’s calls and arrested him in Mexico. Chambers and the others were arrested shortly after.
In the end, eight main conspirators were charged, and 24 people were convicted. Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years but served about five. Chambers served 11.
Almost all the money was recovered—except for $2 million that has never been accounted for.
After prison, Ghantt returned to a normal life, working construction and later consulting on the 2016 film Masterminds, based on the heist. But he still owes millions in taxes—a debt he may never fully repay.
The Loomis Fargo heist is remembered as one of the boldest robberies in U.S. history…
But also one of the most poorly thought out.
They managed to steal millions.
They just couldn’t keep it.
And even today, one question remains:
Where did the missing $2 million go?