It’s a Steal! CNBC’s ‘Super Heists’ Revisits Some of History’s Biggest, Most Brazen Burglaries

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Pulling off a multimillion-dollar robbery from a high-security stash is a frequent Hollywood plot, but CNBC is looking back at history’s most notorious, real-life, Ocean’s 11-style heists in the six-episode, true-crime series Super Heists (Mondays at 10pm ET beginning Aug. 9). The stories of some of the biggest, most brazen burglaries are told from the perspectives of the perpetrators and the law-enforcement sleuths who nabbed them. Among the Super Heists capers are:

All the President’s Money? (1972) Thieves plotted to steal millions from a California bank vault rumored to contain a slush fund for President Richard Nixon.

Secrets of the Transy Book Heist (2004) Four young men subdue a librarian and attempt to steal $12 million in rare books from the Special Collections Library at Transylvania University in Kentucky.

A Van Full of Dollars (1997) The theft of more than $17 million from an armored-car company’s vault in Charlotte, North Carolina, inspired the 2016 comedy film Masterminds.

Carnegie Library Caper (1992-2017) An archivist stole $8 million worth of rare books, maps and manuscripts from Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Library over 25 years.

Banco Central Burglary (2005) Thieves tunneled into the vault at Banco Central in Fortaleza, Brazil, and stole nearly four tons of uninsured cash.

Picasso Pinch (2011) New Jersey man Mark Lugo walked into a San Francisco art gallery and walked out with a drawing by Pablo Picasso worth $200,000.

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Member of the Television Critics Association. Charter member of the Ancient and Mystic Society of No Homers. Squire of the Ancient & Benevolent Order of the Lynx, Lodge 49, Long Beach, Calif. Costco Wholesale Gold Star Member since 2011.