Overview
- Nearly all of the roughly 3,250 safe‑deposit boxes at a Sparkasse in Gelsenkirchen were opened after intruders advanced from a parking garage into an archive room and drilled into the vault.
- Investigators are analyzing parking‑garage footage showing masked individuals and two vehicles, including a high‑performance black car with a falsified plate and a white van, alongside witness reports of men carrying large bags.
- The affected Gelsenkirchen branch remains closed, and the bank has set up a customer hotline.
- Losses were initially aligned with the bank’s insurance sum of about €30 million, with officials cautioning the total could be substantially higher and more than 2,500 customers listed as affected.
- In a separate case in Bonn, a Sparkasse employee is suspected of accessing two safe‑deposit boxes and stealing significant quantities of gold, with investigations underway since December 17 and police indicating an update is expected Friday.