One of the biggest bank heists in German history took place over Christmas – and no one noticed for days.
In a raid that the police compared to Ocean’s Eleven, thieves drilled into the vault of the Sparkasse bank in Buer, a suburb of Gelsenkirchen, last week.
They gained entry through a car park before prying open several doors and using a 42cm thick drill to obliterate the vault’s 18-inch concrete wall.
Inside the underground vault, bank robbers emptied most of the 3,300 safety deposit boxes rented to 2,700 customers for several hours.
The group stole roughly £30,000,000 worth of gold, cash, jewellery and other personal belongings.
At least 2,500 people banking with Sparkasse were affected, with officials advising customers to just assume their belongings were stolen.
Witnesses saw a group of men carrying large bags in the stairwell of a connecting car park on Saturday night and boarding a black Audi RS6 with a stolen Hanover licence plate.
Investigators believe the men used a 20kg drill fitted with a synthetic diamond-coated crown, which would need to be cooled while in-use.
Officers only discovered the aftermath of the break-in just before 3.40am on Monday when responding to a fire alarm.
Thousands of ripped-out cash boxes littered the vault, along with piles of strewn papers and other smashed valuables around a massive drill.
Police spokesman Thomas Nowaczyk told tabloid Bild: ‘This is an exceptionally spectacular case, the kind you usually see on TV. Behind it lie many individual tragedies.’
‘It’s all gone’, say bank customers
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News of the break-in led to dozens of furious bank customers gathering in front of the closed branch on Tuesday, demanding their money.
‘We want in! We want in!’ the crowd chanted, with some bankers even trying to charge police officers.
Customers have described their hundreds of Euros worth of gold saved for family holidays, weddings and grandchildren’s futures being stolen.
One affected customer told local station WELT TV that they had stored their money in a safe deposit box last week before heading on holiday.
They said: ‘It’s all gone.’
Another added: ‘Where is the security here? I deposited all my savings here. I’m a blue-collar worker. It’s all gone.’
Other customers questioned the bank’s security measures, noting that even Lidl and Aldi supermarkets have motion detectors.
‘We’re talking about a savings bank here,’ said a customer.
But the exact date the break-in happened is still uncertain – police found ‘no damage’ when they responded to a fire alarm pulled just before 3.40am on December 27.
A specialised police task force called ‘Core Drill’ has been established to track down the robbers.
Police suspect at least two to three people were involved in the crime and have continued to appeal for witnesses.
Sparkasse has asked customers to avoid visiting the bank and said it is working with the insurance company.
As each box is insured for just under £9,000, the bank may be seeking a claim for as much as £30,000,000.
In a Q&A page, the bank said: ‘The likelihood that your box has also been affected is very high.
‘Unfortunately, you must assume that your box has also been broken into.’
The bank added that due to ‘extensive structural damage’, the vault is shut and that remaining boxes can only be accessed in ‘urgent cases’.
Sparkasse and the Gelsenkirchen Police have been approached for comment.
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