Jimmy Burke, an associate of the notorious Lucchese mafia family, was the brain behind the Lufthansa robbery from 1978. It all started when the betting agent Martin Krugman informed Henry Hill, one of Burke’s friends, about a sum of money allegedly impossible to track.
The money entered the American territory by air and it represented the currency changed by American military men and tourists who were travelling in West Germany (former GFR). The money was stored in a safe located in the Kennedy airport. Louis Werner, an airport employee offered this information to Krugman because he owed $20,000 to Krugman for his betting services.
On December 11, at 03:12, a guard working at the Kennedy airport was hit in the head with a gun and disarmed but he did not lose consciousness. Two men with their faces covered ordered him to disable the alarm and once this had been done, they tied and gagged him. The guard was still able to see a group of men, all armed with rifles or guns, entering the deposit terminal. One of the robbers took the guard’s wallet and told him that they knew where his family lived and added that that they were ready to pay them a visit at anytime. The guard then nodded, agreeing to cooperate with the robbers.
Afterwards, the robbers used a special key which had been given to them by Werner and went through a long labyrinth of corridors to the place where all the other airport employees were. The robbers threaten to shoot them and forced John Murray, the senior deposit agent to call Rudi Eirich. Eirich was the only employee on duty that night who knew what the cipher was for opening the safe. He was lured in the cafeteria, threatened by gun and forced to open the safe. Later on, Eirich would tell the police that the robbers knew very well all the internal safety systems and were well informed about the silent opening procedure of the safe.
Once in the safe, the robbers found 40 money packages, took them and loaded them in a van while Eirich himself and all the other employees were tied and gagged. One of the robbers, thrilled by the robbery’s success, entered the room where the employees were held and informed the others that the money was ready for transport. However, this robber was careless and had forgotten to cover his face so that the employees were able to see how he looked like.
Before hitting the road, the robbers ordered the airport employees not to call the police before 04:30. When they left the time was 04:16. Indeed, the employees complied since they were all aware that the robbers knew who they were and could come after their families if they had been caught by police. The robbery lasted 64 minutes and the prey totaled $5 million in cash and another $875,000 in jewelry. At that time, that was the biggest robbery in American history.