Man accused of making off with a $1.6M bucket of gold in NYC.
Police are searching for a man who allegedly snatched a bucket of gold flakes from the back of an armored truck in midtown Manhattan Sept. 29, ABC News reported.
Video shows a man nonchalantly grab the 5-gallon pail around 4:30 p.m. near 5th Avenue and 48th St. The pail contained 86 pounds of flakes, which are worth an estimated $1.6 million.
The suspect is described as a Hispanic male, 5-foot-6, 150 pounds, and is in his 50s. He was wearing a black vest, green shirt and blue jeans.
The truck's driver wasn't guarding the treasure because he momentarily went to the cab of the truck to get his cell phone, it was reported.
I think I read where this happened back in September which means the guy must have used his head in getting the gold converted into cash. What a score!! With a $5.00 propane torch and a ceramic crucible he could make untraceable small buttons of gold that he could sell off for good bucks with impunity for years. As long as he keeps his lifestyle in check they will never catch up to him . I think that's why the story has gone public hoping someone will provide a lead. I think the IRS would be his only potential speed bump at this time.
Where do you suppose 86 pounds of gold flake comes from? Jewelry manufacturing slag? Gold recycling precipitate? Cyanide leaching operation?
Dusty, you are right this guy was very smart if they are just now asking for help when it happened a month ago. Still in my opinion - it's an inside job.
Wow, you really know your stuff, a small untracible oven (so to speak) like the one you described is the best route and long lasting too. He can be making up some bars to buy Christmas presents then a birthday or a trip....it goes on and on at that much weight. Still he must have been pretty strong to carry that bucket!
I would agree with you probably a large jewelry company either ordered that for repair jobs for the holidays but then again - maybe they were sending it out to a refinery.
Crazy story for sure.
I saw this story a few days ago and figured it would make its way to the forum pretty quick. Dusty is right on several counts--the feds really need some help, and the culprit can live a very good lifestyle if he watches his ways. Similar story near me in NC last year when thieves stole ten 26 lb gold bars from a delivery truck on I-95. Feds got their big break when one of the thieves "former" girlfriend blabbed to authorities. Only one bar recovered, rest likely melted down. A jeweler in Miami admitted melting and diluting the bars into smaller ingots that could be sold without suspicion. If you want the perfect crime I guess the moral would be do it alone, tell no one, and avoid becoming a big spender. Thanks for putting this one on the forum Tony.
Cool Shade. Karl Von Muller said to keep the mouth shut and stay on the down low....sound advice for sure
Saw this story on the news. The thief seems more like a random dishonest opportunist versus a brilliant burglar. Still, it is quite a haul. Supposing he can keep his yap shut, and lay low (as others have mentioned), he might be able to evade the authorities. But they have pretty good video surveillance of the fella. If he's been arrested before, it's only a matter of time before the F.B.I. tracks him down. If it was a lesser amount, say $25,000 or $50,000, the armored car company might just write it off as a loss. $1.5 million on the other hand brings a LOT of heat.
Without a good network of fence's, and without knowing how to melt the product down, the thief might have a helluva time trying to unload the goods.
There's a reason criminal organizations like the mafia hijack trucks with ordinary products like cigarettes, booze, clothes, etc. No need for fence's, thereby reducing the likelyhood of rats. They simply warehouse and sell it at a discounted price to friends & acquaintances. Very easy to move commodity type merchandise.
Growing up in Brooklyn, there were several "stores" with no signage out front. Not for tourists or Sunday shoppers. If you knew someone, you got in. Suits, electronics, whatever you needed. But I never saw a bucket of gold flakes
Joe, I hope you didn't mind that I posted this story. I call them "Modern Day Treasure stories". Reason being they are just like the old Western days where a train is robbed and the loot was never found. The story generates a good amount of interest.
What if this guy acted on his own (I doubt it) and then ran scared to hide the loot. Would he burry it? Would he drop it in a lake? Then say he dies in a police shootout.
Man it gets me excited to have this story continue, sort of like DB Cooper. The first person to hijack an airplane in the US and he nor the cash were ever found except some that was planted on a river beach.
To me this is another part of the hobby that I love. I don't condone people stealing things but if I ever do find one, now that is another story.
Tony, why would I mind that you posted the story? That's what the community is here for.
My theory on this fella is this...
He was simply a dishonest opportunist who took what he could easily get his greedy hands on. It could've been a box of steaks, or a bucket of motor oil. He saw an opening to steal from an armored car, and he did just that.
At least initially, I don't believe he knew exactly what he found. Again, that's just my theory. I'm sure he was hoping for silver/gold coins, large denomination bills, etc. Unless one is a well connected burglar, it's not so easy to sell or pawn a bucket of gold flakes. Raises a lot of red flags and brings heat. Not saying it couldn't be done, but it won't be easy.
As Dusty mentioned, melting it would be an option, but providing this fella even realizes what he has, does he have the know-how to melt it?
There have been several high profile cases of paintings being stolen from museums. The pieces were worth in the tens of millions of dollars. They can be sold on the black market, but the seller is opening himself up to huge risk. As is the buyer. Not saying this story about the gold flakes compares to these cases, but it's very similar.
I wouldn't be surprised if the thief threw the bucket in a lake after finding out what it was. Or sold it to a junkie for a couple thousand bucks to score some drugs.
I share your fascination for stories like this Tony. I scan news outlets all the time looking for anything dealing with lost, found, hidden, or stolen loot, an post them to the forum from time to time. And it has been my experience that most of the members love to read and comment on them. It stirs the imagination to think that we might stumble upon some buried treasure, even if it's not a million dollar hoard, and I guess that's one of the reasons that we pick up our detectors and swing away.
I doubt he came this way , so I hope he dug hole in New Jersey somewhere and buried it to be found by some lucky detectorist. I wonder if we would read about it , or if someone would just get a few nice toys.....
Pat