The money was usually carried in linen bags, each containing US$60,000, and Air France shipped up to $1 million per week in this manner.
McMahon introduced the guard to an expensive escort at The Jade East Motel located near JFK International Airport.
After a number of dry runs, McMahon and the escort were able to distract the guard long enough for Hill to retrieve the key from his pants and make a copy.
[3] The theft was not discovered until the following Monday, when a Wells Fargo truck arrived to pick up the cash to be delivered to the French American Banking Corporation.
The latter film portrayed it being an inside job, with a security guard simply giving Henry Hill a key (as opposed to attempting to copy one), and also used the significantly more lucrative Lufthansa heist of 1978 to show the deadly consequences of the following internal fight between the robbers.