In a still and quiet suburb of Tokyo, Japan witnessed its greatest heist of the century. The greatest heist did not, unlikely, was not carried out of several heavily armed men. It was taken single-handedly which makes it implausible.
The money was stolen from a car of Nihon Trust Bank driven by 4 employees carrying over 300 million yen. The payment was being carried to be distributed among the 600 Toshiba employees as a bonus.
It all started with phone calls to the manager of the Nihon Trust bank. Someone had been threatening the manager over the past few months over his life and of those who were around him. At his home, he receives a letter which was made with cutting of newspapers and magazines. The letter demanded 300 million yen; otherwise his house would be blown up.
The police were alarmed and a close eye was kept on his home as well as the bank.
It was Japan, where the work never stops! The manager went to bank the next day. Troubled, he shared his worries with his fellow bank employees.
The work went on just as any other day, he sent 4 of his employees to make a scheduled drop to the Toshiba factory. The workers left in the company car which had its logo on it.
Before it was too long the workers heard police siren approaching. Right in the front of prison, the policeman, who was on bike screeched to a halt in front of the car to warn the Nihon Bank employees and inform them that – Manager’s home had just been blown up, several people died and some of them were injured. The policeman told the workers that despite all the police protection the offender was still able to carry out the threat.
He told them that the threat was still not over and that the bank was next target, especially those who were driving the clearly marked company’s car. The car, the Policemen said, needed to be searched.
To check the car, the officer went underneath the car but before he could do something the employees notice smoke. The officer desperately tried to roll off while the workers ran as fast as they could to a safe spot.
The safe spot was behind a prison wall. They waited for the bomb to go off, they waited and they waited, but it didn’t go off. There was no explosion, they looked out and there was no car. The car was gone and the policemen were gone.
Did the officer put the car to safety? The worried workers called the bank, the manager, to their relief, picked up. But he told them that his house was perfectly fine and there had been no explosion.
After the buzz settled, everything occurred to them.
The perpetrator had been planning this heist for months. He disguised as the police officer to take the car away. Of many things found as the evidence, they found a warning flare which he must have ignited from under the car to mimic danger. Rest of the evidence was left on purpose to mislead the investigation.
The case, after all these years, still remained unsolved!