Quiz 4

Chan and the Heist of the Century

Chan took a deep breath. “This is it,” he said, almost inaudibly. None of the other eight men heard it. They were all mesmerized by the sight of the gold, diamonds, and silver jewelry and cash that filled the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) strong. They had managed to bypass the bank's multiple security features, thanks to Chan's ten-year plan. But at this point, he was no longer Chan. He was a man transfigured. He was not just a seventy-three-year-old retiree anymore. He was the man who planned and overseen the heist of the century, as he often referred to this robbery in his numerous conversations with his team of grizzled men. It was a team of older men – with the youngest just short of sixty years old. They planned to be prosperous until the day they lay on their graves.

"All this is ours, gentlemen," Chan muttered, reaching for some of the gold that formed a heap on the security room's floor. The jewelry alone would sell for about one billion yuan in the black markets. They had counted the cash to about one hundred million yuan, to which point they were tired of counting. One hundred million was more than they would have hoped to accrue from the endeavor.

“Hurry, let’s put everything in the bags and get out of here before morning,” Chan instructed. The other men did as tell. They had come to respect and revere Chan. Who would not? He had shown them that they could get more luxurious than they had imagined in their wildest dreams and brought them within a touching distance to the riches.

At first, his plan had sounded like a lunatic talk. Who would dare rob a bank in 2010? There was so much security technology than one would care to imagine. Yet, Chan’s plan had been full proof. He had managed to get nine men into China’s biggest bank’s vaults with relative ease. Through a blend of planning genius and resolve, he had procured equipment and assembled a team of experts with all the skills required to pull off such a plan.

One hour later, they were ready to get out of the vaults. Once they made it out of the bank, they would be some of the richest men to have ever walked the earth. However, that was not to be. A police officer on patrol had spotted the thieves car while on patrol parked near to the bank. He had moved closer to the car only to hear some activity inside the bank. Alarmed that it could be a robbery, he had immediately called for backup. A few minutes, Chan and his team emerged from the emergency exit door carrying their loot. It was a nasty surprise.

Three weeks later, Chan was in a prison cell. His whole team had pleaded guilty to charges of robbery and had handed at least twenty-five years in prison. He signaled the guard at his door and requested a pen and a book. He was going to write about a heist of the century that never was.