A police detective inspects the vault following the 1950 Brink’s robbery. Photo courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection

To celebrate its 150th anniversary, Banker & Tradesman is highlighting significant moments in the history of Massachusetts’ real estate and banking industries. To suggest a topic, email editorial@thewarrengroup.com.

What: The Great Brink’s Robbery
When: Jan. 17, 1950
Where: Boston’s North End 

At around 7 p.m., a group of seven armed men wearing masks entered the Brink’s armored car depot at 165 Prince St. in the North End. After tying up five Brink’s employees, the men gathered $1.2 million in cash and $1.5 million in checks, money orders and other securities.  

The stolen money had been collected from businesses throughout Greater Boston. The carefully planned heist was the largest robbery in the United States at the time. 

The robbery went unsolved for six years until one of the men involved, Joseph James “Specs” O’Keefe, confessed to the FBI amid conflicts with those involved in the robbery. The heist involved 11 people, and nine were alive in 1956 when O’Keefe pleaded guilty to the crime and eight others were convicted.  

“They pointed their guns through the cage of the vault and ordered the employees, who were counting money, to put up their hands and open the door leading to the vault. … The money was then packed up in bags in the vault.”  

 — From Boston Police Superintendent Edward Fallon’s briefing to divisional captains following the heist, as reported in The Boston Globe.