A gang of thieves stole over $1.2 million in cash and $1.5 million in checks and securities from a Brink’s building in Boston on January 17, 1950. But even though the culprits thought they were in the clear, they were caught six years later.
The Boston Daily GlobeA front-page story about the Great Brink’s Robbery in The Boston Daily Globe.
On Jan. 17, 1950, a group of 11 men pulled off one of the most meticulously planned heists in American history.
Seven of the thieves, wearing Halloween masks, peacoats, gloves, and chauffeur caps, entered the Brink’s security company building in Boston’s North End — and stole more than $1.2 million in cash and $1.5 million in checks and securities in just 20 minutes.
The other thieves played different roles, such as a getaway driver and a lookout, ensuring that the robbery would be successful.
The culprits nearly got away with everything, but then, they were caught in 1956, mere days before the statute of limitations expired.
How The Great Brink’s Robbery Unfolded
Smith Archive/AlamyEight of the 11 men involved in the 1950 Brink’s Robbery. From left to right: Michael Vincent Geagan, James Ignatius Faherty, Thomas Francis Richardson, Joseph McGinnis, Anthony Pino, Vincent J. Costa, Adolph Maffie, and Henry Baker.
In the late 1940s, a Massachusetts-based criminal named Anthony “Fats” Pino hatched a shocking plan. Eyeing the Brink’s security company building in Boston’s North End, he thought that he could figure out a way to steal millions from the building. He gradually assembled a crew of 10 other men, each bringing specialized skills and criminal experience.
The gang of thieves eventually consisted of Pino, Joseph McGinnis, Joseph “Specs” O’Keefe, Stanley Gusciora, Adolph Maffie, Michael Vincent Geagan, Henry Baker, Vincent J. Costa, Thomas Francis Richardson, Joseph Banfield, and James Ignatius Faherty.
Leading up to the robbery, the 11 men conducted thorough surveillance on the building, its trucks, and its guards ahead of the heist. The Brink’s gang also carefully removed lock cylinders from the building’s doors so they could copy the proper keys for each one. They even stole a copy of the protective plans for the Brink’s building from an alarm company.
They had multiple rehearsals to perfect every move.
As the big day approached, they decided to wear Halloween masks, peacoats, gloves, and chauffeur’s caps to disguise themselves and also to avoid leaving any traces behind. “It was an adventure,” Maffie later recalled. “Pino kept telling us the money was in there, he never stopped. It’s hard to explain, but it was exciting, we were younger, of course I wouldn’t do it now.”
Federal Bureau of InvestigationThe thieves used Halloween masks like this one to disguise themselves during the Brink’s Robbery.
On the evening of January 17th, seven armed men entered the building while two men acted as getaway drivers, and one man took a position as a lookout. Joseph McGinnis stayed away from the scene entirely, ensuring that he’d be seen dining out while in the presence of a Boston police detective.
Just before 7:30 p.m., the lookout gave the armed thieves the go-ahead, and the crew quickly moved into the building.
The gang forced the terrified Brink’s employees to the floor, binding them and gagging them with rope and adhesive tape. In about 20 minutes, the thieves had successfully stolen $1,218,211.29 in cash and another $1,557,183.83 in checks and securities. After nearly being spotted by a garage attendant, the crew slipped away into the night.
At the time, it was the largest cash robbery in American history.
The Brink’s Robbers Left Few Clues Behind
Boston police and the FBI quickly launched a massive investigation, interrogating virtually every known criminal in the city. According to People, one suspect told agents: “If I knew who pulled the job, I wouldn’t be talking to you now because I’d be too busy trying to figure a way to lay my hands on some of the loot.” Investigators were left with a case with very few clues.
The thieves were in and out of the building in less than a half hour. Whoever planned the heist clearly had intimate knowledge of Brink’s operations. In fact, some police officers were convinced the robbery was an inside job.
Federal Bureau of InvestigationBurlap money bags used during the Great Brink’s Robbery, found discarded in a Boston junkyard.
The first real clue didn’t come from a suspect, but from a police officer in nearby Somerville, who discovered that a revolver discarded near the Mystic River had been used by one of the robbers during the heist.
Soon after, investigators identified pieces from a 1949 green Ford stake-body truck in a dump. The destroyed truck was believed to have been the getaway vehicle used during the robbery. An acetylene torch had been used to cut up the vehicle, and a sledgehammer had been used to smash the motor. As it turned out, two of the thieves who participated in the robbery lived nearby the same dump where the vehicle remains were found.
Eventually, authorities focused their attention on suspects like Anthony Pino, who had committed similar, yet smaller, robberies in the past, and Joseph McGinnis, who was not only a known criminal but a meticulous planner.
Still, no one was talking.
A Betrayal From Inside The Crew
The Great Brink’s Robbery was once dubbed “the crime of the century” and “the perfect crime.” And it may have remained so, if it wasn’t for what happened within the crew. By 1956, Joseph “Specs” O’Keefe, a member of the gang, was behind bars for a different crime. He also felt that he was being cheated out of his share of the stolen money.
Not only was he bitter over getting shortchanged and being in prison, but he also said that other members of the gang hired a hitman to kill him. (However, O’Keefe wasn’t afraid of resorting to violence himself, as he had reportedly kidnapped Pino’s cousin and held him captive until he was paid a ransom.)
“During 1955, O’Keefe carefully pondered his position,” the FBI later wrote of the case. “It appeared to him that he would spend his remaining days in prison while his co-conspirators would have many years to enjoy the luxuries of life. Even if released, he thought, his days were numbered.”
In January 1956, O’Keefe finally broke his silence on the robbery, mere days before the statute of limitations expired. He confessed to his role in the heist, laying out every detail of the crime that he could remember and giving up the names of every crew member who had participated.
The case that had stumped investigators for years was finally cracked open.
The Brink’s Robbery Gang Finally Faces Justice
Boston Public LibraryA police detective inspecting the Brink’s vault after the robbery.
Using O’Keefe’s testimony, authorities moved quickly to arrest the members of the Brink’s gang. Six members — Baker, Costa, Geagan, Maffie, McGinnis, and Pino — were all captured by FBI agents on Jan. 12, 1956. However, Faherty and Richardson fled, landing them on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Those two were both later captured on May 16, 1956.
By the fall, eight members of the gang went on trial and were all found guilty. They were given life sentences, but all were paroled by 1971 except for McGinnis, who died in prison. Two other members of the gang had died before they could even go to trial. As for O’Keefe, he pleaded guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence before serving as the prosecution’s star witness.
Yet even with every member of the gang accounted for, one big mystery remained. Where was the missing money?
Though some of the stolen loot was eventually recovered in Boston and Baltimore, more than $1.1 million of the money remains unaccounted for to this day — and it has been rumored that the missing money was buried somewhere in the hills north of Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
Unsurprisingly, the Great Brink’s Robbery has since become a staple of American crime lore, inspiring books and films, including the 1978 movie The Brink’s Job. It was a nearly flawless crime, undone not only by law enforcement, but also by greed, paranoia, and revenge within the crew itself.
After learning about the Great Brink’s Robbery, read about the Lufthansa heist, the robbery made famous by “Goodfellas.” Then, go inside the shocking story of the Antwerp diamond heist.
