The police have obtained license plates from the vehicle that likely carried the criminals who stole up to 100 million euros from the Sparkasse bank in Gelsenkirchen. This is the first substantial new evidence in the investigation. One might think that the police haven't watched movies where robbers change their plates first...
The police have obtained their first lead in the investigation of the Sparkasse bank robbery in Gelsenkirchen, which is considered one of the largest in Germany's history. As reported by the dpa agency on Monday, January 5, investigators managed to discover license plates that apparently belonged to the criminals' vehicle.
According to journalists, the license plates were found in Dortmund. A verification is currently underway to establish whether they indeed belonged to the robbers.
The tabloid Bild reports that these plates were left in a trash container at a taxi stand near the Dortmund station. A witness reported this to the police by phone. Earlier, the police published photos of the vehicles that the criminals presumably used to escape. These images showed the car license plates as well.
Sparkasse Bank Robbery in Gelsenkirchen
On the morning of December 29, the security service of the Sparkasse branch in Gelsenkirchen discovered that more than 3,200 safety deposit boxes containing money, gold, and jewelry had been broken into. The criminals gained access to the vault from an adjacent parking lot by breaking through a wall. According to dpa, citing anonymous sources in security services, the estimated damage is around 100 million euros.
Witnesses reported seeing men with large bags on the staircase of the multi-story parking lot on the evening of December 28. Surveillance camera footage showed that on the morning of the following day, a black Audi RS 6 drove out of the parking lot, with the occupants wearing masks. The vehicle's license plate had previously been stolen in Hanover. The police described the robbers' actions as "very professional."
On December 29 and 30, dissatisfied customers visited the bank branch. Many stated that their losses significantly exceeded the amount covered by insurance. Sparkasse indicated that each of the safes was insured for up to 10,300 euros. Approximately 2,700 people were affected.
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