Nation: The Ultimate Heist

The suspected thief finds that diamonds are not forever

The 55-floor Security Pacific National Bank headquarters in Los Angeles looks like a granite-and-glass fortress. Dark-suited guards roam the lobby. Hidden cameras photograph customers as they make deposits and withdrawals. Yet last month, this stronghold was the site of a $10.2 million heist, the largest bank robbery in U.S. history. There were no guns, no masks, no getaway cars; indeed, the FBI reports that the Stanley Mark Rifkin thief never touched the money. The robber was so clever that the bank did not realize it...

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