WebOn the evening of January 17th 1950, a group of armed gunmen entered the Brinks Building on Prince Street and robbed the company of $1.2 million in cash and $1.6 million in After O'Keefe was released he was taken to stand trial for another burglary and parole violations and was released on a bail of $17,000. All efforts to identify the persons responsible for the theft and the persons who had cut up the truck were unsuccessful. Before the robbers could take him prisoner, the garage attendant walked away. [16] Brink's, Inc. offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved in the robbery, with an additional 5% of recovered cash offered by the insurance company. All denied any knowledge of the alleged incident. The FBIs jurisdiction to investigate this robbery was based upon the fact that cash, checks, postal notes, and United States money orders of the Federal Reserve Bank and the Veterans Administration district office in Boston were included in the loot. [14] They each wore a chauffeur cap, pea coat, rubber Halloween mask, and each had a .38 caliber revolver. It was positively concluded that the packages of currency had been damaged prior to the time they were wrapped in the pieces of newspaper; and there were indications that the bills previously had been in a canvas container which was buried in ground consisting of sand and ashes. (On January 18, 1956, OKeefe had pleaded guilty to the armed robbery of Brinks.) Subsequently, OKeefe left his carand the $200,000in a garage on Blue Hill Avenue in Boston. OKeefe was wounded in the wrist and chest, but again he managed to escape with his life. When this case was continued until April 1, 1954, OKeefe was released on $1,500 bond. Commonly regarded as a dominant figure in the Boston underworld, McGinnis previously had been convicted of robbery and narcotics violations. Speaking on film for the first time since the robbery almost 40 years ago, Detective Chief Superintendent Brian Boyce, head of the investigation and DC Tony Yeoman, disclose the challenges they faced and the strategy they used in At the time of his arrest, there also was a charge of armed robbery outstanding against him in Massachusetts. The truck that the robbers had used was found cut to pieces in Stoughton, Massachusetts, near O'Keefe's home. A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. In the deportation fight that lasted more than two years, Pino won the final victory. FBI.gov is an official site of the U.S. Department of Justice. The conviction for burglary in McKean County, Pennsylvania, still hung over his head, and legal fees remained to be paid. Information received from this individual linked nine well-known hoodlums with the crime. The robbers killed Peter Paige at the Nanuet Mall in front of a bank. After completing its hearings on January 9, 1953, the grand jury retired to weigh the evidence. In addition to the general descriptions received from the Brinks employees, the investigators obtained several pieces of physical evidence. After nearly three years of investigation, the government hoped that witnesses or participants who had remained mute for so long a period of time might find their tongues before the grand jury. Early in June 1956, however, an unexpected break developed. The Great Brink's Robbery was an armed robbery of the Brink's building in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1950. The robbery received significant press coverage, and was eventually adapted into four movies. All had been published in Boston between December 4, 1955, and February 21, 1956. Despite the fact that substantial amounts of money were being spent by members of the robbery gang during 1954, in defending themselves against legal proceedings alone, the year ended without the location of any bills identifiable as part of the Brinks loot. Born in Italy in 1907, Pino was a young child when he entered the United States, but he never became a naturalized citizen. Minutes later, police arrived at the Brinks building, and special agents of the FBI quickly joined in the investigation. Investigation established that this gun, together with another rusty revolver, had been found on February 4, 1950, by a group of boys who were playing on a sand bar at the edge of the Mystic River in Somerville. One of his former girl friends who recalled having seen him on the night of the robbery stated that he definitely was not drunk. other securities in the 1950 Brinks heist. As a government witness, he reluctantly would have testified against him. Subsequently, this machine gun was identified as having been used in the attempt on OKeefes life. During the period in which Pinos deportation troubles were mounting, OKeefe completed his sentence at Towanda, Pennsylvania. The money inside the cooler which was concealed in the wall of the Tremont Street office was wrapped in plastic and newspaper. In its determination to overlook no possibility, the FBI contacted various resorts throughout the United States for information concerning persons known to possess unusually large sums of money following the robbery. ), (After serving his sentence, Fat John resumed a life of crime. In April 1950, the FBI received information indicating that part of the Brinks loot was hidden in the home of a relative of OKeefe in Boston. Within minutes, theyd stolen more than $1.2 million in cash and another $1.5 million in checks and other securities, making it the largest robbery in the U.S. at the time. He had been short changed $2,000. And it nearly was. (Following pleas of guilty in November 1956, Fat John received a two-year sentence, and the other two men were sentenced to serve one years imprisonment. As of 2004, it was Subsequently, he engaged in a conversation with McGinnis and a Boston police officer. It was billed as the perfect crime and the the crime of the century.. Former inmates of penal institutions reported conversations they had overheard while incarcerated which concerned the robbing of Brinks. On January 12, 1953, Pino was released on bail pending a deportation hearing. Despite the arrests and indictments in January 1956, more than $2,775,000, including $1,218,211.29 in cash, was still missing. Because the money in the cooler was in various stages of decomposition, an accurate count proved most difficult to make. McAvoy wanted members of the Arif crime family, specialists in armed robbery, on the job. This lead was pursued intensively. Their success in evading arrest ended abruptly on May 16, 1956, when FBI agents raided the apartment in which they were hiding in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The descriptions and serial numbers of these weapons were carefully noted since they might prove a valuable link to the men responsible for the crime. Following the federal grand jury hearings, the FBIs intense investigation continued. The month preceding January 17, 1950, witnessed approximately a half-dozen approaches to Brinks. O'Keefe pleaded guilty January 18. THE Brink's-Mat robbery is one of the most notorious crimes in British history. As a guard moved to intercept him, Burke started to run. Well-meaning persons throughout the country began sending the FBI tips and theories which they hoped would assist in the investigation. When the pieces of the 1949 green Ford stake-body truck were found at the dump in Stoughton on March 4, 1950, additional emphasis was placed on the investigations concerning them. Geagan claimed that he spent the evening at home and did not learn of the Brinks robbery until the following day. Pino previously had arranged for this man to keep his shop open beyond the normal closing time on nights when Pino requested him to do so. Allegedly, he pulled a gun on OKeefe; several shots were exchanged by the two men, but none of the bullets found their mark. The alibi, in fact, was almost too good. They had brought no tools with them, however, and they were unsuccessful. They were held in lieu of bail which, for each man, amounted to more then $100,000. Investigation revealed that Geagan, a laborer, had not gone to work on January 17 or 18, 1950.). Serious consideration originally had been given to robbing Brinks in 1947, when Brinks was located on Federal Street in Boston. The missing racketeers automobile was found near his home; however, his whereabouts remain a mystery. In December 1954, he indicated to the agents that Pino could look for rough treatment if he (OKeefe) again was released. Here, we look at the people involved and where they are now. After these plans were reviewed and found to be unhelpful, OKeefe and Gusciora returned them in the same manner. That prison term, together with Pinos conviction in March 1928 for carnal abuse of a girl, provided the basis for the deportation action. Nothing suggests it was a stick-em-up robbery or strong-arm heist. Since the robbery had taken place between approximately 7:10 and 7:27 p.m., it was quite probable that a gang, as well drilled as the Brinks robbers obviously were, would have arranged to rendezvous at a specific time. McGinnis, who had not been at the scene on the night of the robbery, received a life sentence on each of eight indictments that charged him with being an accessory before the fact in connection with the Brinks robbery. Neither Pino nor McGinnis was known to be the type of hoodlum who would undertake so potentially dangerous a crime without the best strong-arm support available. Due to his criminal record, the Immigration and Naturalization Service instituted proceedings in 1941 to deport him. Three of the remaining five gang members were previously accounted for, OKeefe and Gusciora being in prison on other charges and Banfield being dead. Their hands were tied behind their backs and adhesive tape was placed over their mouths. (Geagan, who was on parole at the time, left the truck before it arrived at the home in Roxbury where the loot was unloaded. While some gang members remained in the building to ensure that no one detected the operation, other members quickly obtained keys to fit the locks. The robbers removed the adhesive tape from the mouth of one employee and learned that the buzzer signified that someone wanted to enter the vault area. On August 1, 1954, he was arrested at Leicester, Massachusetts, and turned over to the Boston police who held him for violating probation on a gun-carrying charge. The other keys in their possession enabled them to proceed to the second floor where they took the five Brinks employees by surprise.

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