Police recover portion of stolen bank money

? About 1,240 miles from the site of the crime, Brazilian police said Thursday they recovered a small percentage of the $70 million in local currency stolen from the Central Bank in one of the world’s biggest heists.

But authorities were suspicious that the discovery of 1 million reals, or roughly $434,780, inside a Mitsubishi pickup that was on a transport truck may be a ruse to misdirect the investigation.

“We were tipped off on Monday by the owner of the car dealership who received cash for the vehicle, something almost no one ever does,” federal police spokeswoman Sabrina Albuquerque said.

Acting on the tip, police stopped the truck used to carry vehicles near the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte. A search unveiled the money stashed in the pickup. The stacks of 50 real notes – the same denomination stolen from the bank in the northeastern city of Fortaleza last weekend – were tied with Central Bank wrappers, Albuquerque said.