Imagine Having $42,000,000 You Can’t Spend!

Which lesson would you draw from this?

“Crime doesn’t pay?” or “Murphy strikes again?”

Here’s a story that could be fiction if it wasn’t true.

On Sunday, December 19, 2004, a gang of Belfast, Northern
Ireland, robbers initiated a daring 24-hour plan to rob the
Northern Bank.

While holding family members of two executives hostage, they
made off with the staggering sum of $42,000,000. According to
the Guinness Book of World Records, this heist rates fourth on
the all-time list and first for a peacetime haul of currency
alone.

These were not ordinary crooks. They did their homework and
executed their plan with military precision.

They wore gloves, masks, overalls, and boots. Police theorize
these were burned afterwards.

They trimmed their hair short to minimize incriminating DNA
forensic evidence. They burned the executive’s car commandeered
for the robbery.

However, they did not plan on the huge amount of almost
exclusively Northern Irish notes.

That’s why they can’t spend the money.

Money-laundering experts predict this because Northern Ireland
banks produced almost all the stolen currency for use in
Northern Ireland. The notes are easily recognizable and not
accepted in the rest of the U.K. or other countries.

This is a serious bummer if you have oodles of the stuff.

As a former minister, I could hold forth on “crime doesn’t pay,”
but I won’t.

Instead, let me pay homage to Mr. Murphy.

No matter how carefully you plan, remember “What can go wrong,
will go wrong.”

Expect it. Welcome it. Summon up all your confidence and think
fast when it happens.

You will surely find a way to turn Murphy’s Law to your
advantage.

So what could these guys do?

Sell the bills off as souvenirs?

At least, they have plenty of cool bookmarks.