A Brink’s truck driver from Michigan has been charged with stealing over a million dollars from 24 ATMs in mid-Michigan in November and December. Authorities said he accomplished it by concealing the money in his lunch box.
Reginald Carman has been accused with stealing $1,060,200 in cash from FDIC banks in Michigan between November 15, 2021 and December 28, 2021, according to FOX2.
According to court records, a LAFCU representative alerted the FBI on January 6 after detecting $350,000 in shortages. Carman, who had started working for Brink’s on his own on Nov. 15, was the final person to maintain the ATMs.
Carman worked for Brink’s and operated LAFCU teller machines and other ATMs until December 28, when he failed to report to work.
Brink’s investigators began reviewing camera footage and stated that on December 21, they saw Carman putting a transparent bag full of cash into a Brink’s clear bag/lunch box. According to the investigator, Brink’s provides the bags to staff so that personal belongings can be scrutinized if needed.
Later that day, on his way back to the Brink’s facility in Lansing, Carman pulled over, peeked out the truck windows, took the Brink’s clear bag/lunch box, and hopped out. He loaded the bag into a dark-colored pickup truck or SUV.
According to the investigator, the bag appeared to be full with money.
As the investigator went over the footage, they noticed a bag that seemed to be mainly empty at the beginning of Carman’s shift.
The next day, he contacted Carman, requesting the return of the stolen funds, estimated to be worth $270,000 by the investigators. Later that same day, Carman sent another text, saying he’d be back with $400,000.
The investigator stated that he expected Carman to return all he had taken. “I got what you need,” Carman replied.
Carman spoke with the investigator that day and admitted to stealing from ATMs.
He acknowledged to depositing money from LAFCU and Lake Trust Credit Union ATMs into his transparent lunch box. He claimed he had not taken anything from Chase Bank. He also stated that his father had lately passed and that his “mind was not right.” He returned $650,000 and issued an apology statement.
Brink’s investigated further and discovered that the amount stolen was greater than what Carman had returned. On January 12, he contacted Carman and asked him to repay the remaining cash. Carman replied that he would bring back somewhat more than $200,000.
During this meeting, he returned $250,000 and, when asked about the investigation that revealed he had stolen money from Chase Bank ATMs, he replied, “I don’t even know at this point.”
The investigation was far from over. When the Brink’s investigator discovered that there was still cash lacking from what Carman had given back, he phoned him and asked him to return the remaining $76,000, which Carman did.
A further meeting in March resulted in the return of $60,000.
According to Brink’s, the bulk of the money returned was “bricked” or “strapped,” which is the configuration the money is in after being removed from the teller machines. Unfortunately, some money was in loose form, and a total of $22,260 has disappeared without a trace.
According to Brink’s, Carman did not return all of the cash he had taken.
According to the investigation, Carman took from 24 machines on six different times between November 15 and December 28 and swiped a total of $1,060,200 from 7 different banks or credit unions. He paid back $1,037,940.
Carman had only been working with a partner until Nov. 15, according to the FBI. He claimed he began stealing money when he ventured out on his own.
