REVEALED: Security firm entrusted with safeguarding billions of dollars from ... trends now
The international security firm which robbers stole $30million from in an Easter Sunday heist is facing fresh questions as a string of allegations of lost money, data breaches and poor safety standards resurface.
Brazen thieves stole $30 million under the cover of darkness from the cash vaults at the GardaWorld facility in the San Fernando Valley, near Los Angeles, in one of the largest heists in city history on Sunday.
The security giant stores and transports money for America's biggest banks in facilities across the country, as well as holding major government and diplomatic contracts and running security for events.
After the break-in, serious questions emerged over the security of their sites after thieves were able to slip in and no one noticed the cash was missing until the next day.
Now a string of historic scandals surrounding the multi-national company have resurfaced with reports of millions of dollars of lost money, data breaches and cover-up schemes.
The GardaWorld facility in the Sylmar area of the San Fernando Valley was raided by thieves on Easter Sunday
It has raised serious questions over the security of the company's sites and operations
Historic reports of lost money, data breaches and poor safety standards have re-emerged
In 2020, Tampa Bay Times published an extensive investigation into a pattern of accidents and losses at GardaWorld facilities.
The Times alleged that 'Garda lost track of millions of dollars inside its vaults, then concealed the missing money from the banks that were its clients.'
At the time, they were storing money for at least five of the nation's biggest banks: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, PNC Bank and TD Bank. They also store money for the federal reserve.
There are 425 branch offices across 45 countries, according to the company, with 132,000 security professionals.
Most major US cities have a Garda vault and some of the biggest store over $100million. The vaults are filled with chain link fences and plastic bags and crates stuffed with notes and coins.
'Court records and interviews depict some of the vaults as chaotic places where employees routinely ignored protocol and lost money,' the Times wrote.
'Some were rife with unsolved thefts and lacked basic safeguards like high-quality security cameras.'
According to their interview with a former branch manager at GardaWorld, Brian Newell, branches were ordered to move thousands of dollars between themselves so bank auditors wouldn't notice missing sums when they visited.
In total, the Times estimated they were missing $9million.
Another branch manager, Jammie Bolton, confirmed to the paper that employees would scramble to move money between banks' accounts when auditors came so that they could show them the amount they expected.
Newell said: 'They would pretty much bamboozle the auditors, when in fact they have no clue where the money is.'
Other former employees told the outlet that they were shocked by how little the company did to keep track of the cash in its care, and there were too many losses to make it a series of mistakes.
Former managers told the Times that employees had 'ample opportunity' to steal, and thefts sometimes went unnoticed until clients pointed out money was missing.
The boarded up hole in the building
It is thought the gang broke in through a hatch on the roof and some how circumnavigated the security systems to access the vaults and escape without raising the alarm, before escaping through a hole on the southeastern side of the building
As well as storing money, Garda runs a network of armored trucks that they use to shuttle cash between banks, businesses and their facilities.
But a separate Times investigation in 2020 alleged that the trucks are poorly maintained, lacking reliable brakes,
