Guards Steal $282 Million from a Bank in Baghdad
July 12th, 2007Oh sure.
Via: International Herald Tribune:
In an astonishing heist, guards at a bank here made off with more than a quarter-billion dollars on Wednesday, according to an official at the Interior Ministry.
The robbery, of $282 million from the Dar Es Salaam bank, a private financial institution, raised more questions than it answered, and officials were tight-lipped about the crime. The local police said two guards engineered the robbery, but an official at the Interior Ministry said three guards were involved.
Both confirmed that the stolen money was in American dollars, not Iraqi dinars. It was unclear why the bank had that much money on hand in dollars, or how the robbers managed to move such a large amount without being detected.
Several officials speculated that the robbers had connections to the militias, because it would be difficult for them to move without being searched through many checkpoints in Baghdad.
Just Blackwater picking up their bonuses.
Money laundering by the US government to keep the war going and/or payoff friends?
It would be funny, if tomorrow USD would crash and leave them robbers with no real value on their heist!
$282 million in $100 bills is roughly around 2.4 tons of weight. not so easy to get out, transport, even hide. for sure a three man job 🙂
This cash can join the $12 billion in shrink-wrapped $100s which the US airlifted to Iraq and much of which promptly vanished:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2008189,00.html
Pretty soon they’ll ALL be able to afford to build hotels on Boardwalk AND Park Place!
Those roadside bombs and sniper rifles don’t buy themselves.
Maybe it was “al Qaeda”! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
assuming you could just load it onto a pickup and drive it out, you would still need two Chevy 3500s or a Chevy 3500 and a Chevy 1500 (or the equivalent thereof)
um, yeah, right….
Uh oh… looks like the story has changed:
http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2007/07/11/guards-steal-282-million-from-baghdad-bank/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iraqslogger.com%2Findex.php%2Fpost%2F3543%2FMassive_Bank_Heist_in_Central_Baghdad&frame=true
They are backtracking now…