Thieves used a large drill to pierce the safe of a bank branch and steal around 30 million euros in cash, gold and jewelry in western Germany, according to local police. The crime occurred at a Sparkasse bank branch in the city of Gelsenkirchen.
According to Gelsenkirchen police, the criminals first accessed a parking garage located next to the bank building, used as an entry point for the action. From there, they dug down into the agency’s basement and drilled into the wall of the underground vault, opening a large hole that allowed direct access to the assets. Once inside the safe, the thieves broke into more than 3,000 security boxes, which contained money, gold bars and jewelry belonging to the agency’s clients.
A police spokesperson compared the action to a Hollywood film, telling the agency AFP that the robbery was “executed in a very professional manner”. According to investigators, the crime required detailed planning, prior knowledge of the building’s structure and heavy drilling equipment.
As authorities reported, the thieves took advantage of the “quiet days of Christmas” to act. Witnesses told the police that they saw several men carrying large bags down the garage stairs between Saturday night (27) and Sunday morning (28).
According to police, security camera footage shows a black Audi RS 6 leaving the garage on Monday morning (29).
The break-in was only discovered when a fire alarm was triggered in the early hours of Monday, prompting police and firefighters to search the building. This Tuesday (30), the area in front of the agency was isolated after a gathering of customers demanding information about the robbery.
Sparkasse bank reported that around 95% of security boxes were breached, which makes the probability of loss for customers “very high”. According to the institution, the contents of each compartment are insured up to a limit of 10,300 euros, and account holders were advised to check whether they have additional coverage through home insurance.
So far, no arrests have been made, and the thieves remain at large.
