Brazilian prosecutors charge 6 with stealing $70 mln
Six men have been officially charged with stealing 70 million US dollars from Brazil's Central Bank in one of the world's biggest bank robberies, the local media reported Saturday.

Those charged Friday by Brazilian federal prosecutors include three men who were arrested shortly after the robbery in August and another three who are still at large, the local Agencia Estado news service said.

The suspects allegedly spent three months tunneling under a busy avenue in Fortaleza, a city 2,350 km northeast of Sao Paulo, to break into the Central Bank vault.

Some of the stolen Brazilian reales were taken from Fortaleza to Sao Paulo, hidden inside grain sacks on a commercial flight, the prosecutors said.

More than 2 million dollars in cash were recovered shortly after the bank heist, which was recognized by experts as the biggest one in Brazilian history.

The previous biggest bank robbery in Brazil occurred in July 1999, when nearly 20 armed men raided a branch of the Sao Paulo State Bank by night, getting away with 16.9 million dollars.