Overview
- The burglars accessed Sparkasse Gelsenkirchen from an adjacent underground parking garage and drilled through a thick wall into the vault.
- More than 3,000 safe-deposit boxes were forced open, with losses initially estimated at about €30 million based on average insured values.
- A fire alarm in the early hours of Monday led emergency services to discover a large hole into the vault after days of quiet over the holidays.
- Security footage shows a black Audi RS 6 leaving the garage with masked occupants, and police say the car’s licence plate had been stolen in Hanover.
- The branch remains closed as investigators review CCTV and forensic evidence and the bank runs a customer hotline, with suspects still at large and no arrests announced.