<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The equivalent of $A1.4 billion was stolen in the largest street mugging in history on </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" rel="" target="" title="May 2, 1990"><span>May 2, 1990</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Finance broker employee John Goddard was walking down a </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/uk" rel="" target="" title="London laneway"><span>London laneway</span></a><span> when he was robbed at knifepoint.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The young robber made off with Goddard's briefcase, which happened to be carrying 301 bearer bonds.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-may-1-what-happened-on-this-day-gary-powers/3849342b-f8a4-4aa3-8bd8-6a063d42bfcd"><strong><span>Why CIA put spy pilot's wife in a mental institution</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A bearer bond is essentially a piece of paper issued by a corporation or a government worth a certain amount of money.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The unregistered bonds can be sold for whatever they are worth by whoever has them in this possession.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The bearer bonds stolen in the mugging had a value of £292 million, which is about $1.4 billion in today's money.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-may-2-what-happened-on-this-day-billion-dollar-mugging/f0fb5054-a5e4-410e-9302-d73d45afb09e" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While it may have seen like a purely opportunistic mugging, the robbery was planned well in advance.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An organised crime syndicate hatched upon the idea when a courier dropped £4 million in bonds in January of that year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When those bonds were returned in exchange for a bottle of champagne, it made national news.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The syndicate realised they could conduct a major heist and make it look like a mugging.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-april-30-what-happened-on-this-day-coronation-street/367a3619-f78d-41ab-84e5-53b1a6b3f15e" target="" title="If militants were watching another channel, they'd know they were about to die"><strong><span>If militants were watching another channel, they'd know they were about to die</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the robbery was the easy part.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While the bonds may have been worth $1.4 billion, finding someone willing to buy them was a big issue.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One of the gangsters, Mark Osbourne, tried to sell the bonds to a New York mafioso.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the mafioso turned out to be an FBI agent, and Osbourne was arrested.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A few months later, Osbourne disappeared and was later found murdered.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The suspected mugger also met a grim demise, murdered on the front door of the council estate where he lived.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Eventually all but two of the 301 bonds were recovered.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Bank of England switched to electronic transactions for bonds in 2003.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The mugging remains the second biggest robbery in world history.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was trumped for top spot by the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-18-what-happened-on-this-day/f02c3791-b3fb-40ac-9f58-1b118b25ca4c" rel="" target="" title="Central Bank of Iraq robbery in 2003"><span>Central Bank of Iraq robbery in 2003</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In that robbery, </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-november-5-what-happened-on-this-day-saddam-hussein-execution/a8dd744c-2e4c-44e3-b90a-00d25de80ea4"><span>Saddam Hussein</span></a><span>'s son Qusay and an assistant arrived at the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/iraq"><span>Central Bank of Iraq</span></a><span> at 4am that morning with a note from the leader.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The handwritten letter from the dictator authorised Qusay to take as much money as he wanted from the bank.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Three tractor-trailers were brought in to take $900 million in American cash - all $100 notes, as well as tens of millions worth in euros.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-18-what-happened-on-this-day/f02c3791-b3fb-40ac-9f58-1b118b25ca4c" rel="" target="" title="With a note from his father, he conducted the biggest bank heist of all time"><strong><span>With a note from his father, he conducted the biggest bank heist of all time</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" target="" title="For more from our Today in History archive, click here."><strong><span>For more from our Today in History archive, click here</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a 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