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Gelsenkirchen Bank Heist: Police Process 500,000 Items and 10,000 Hours of Video

Police say the crew drilled through a wall after entering from a parking garage, prompting scrutiny of possible alarm circumvention.

Overview

  • Investigators say the intruders reached the vault area by accessing the branch from an adjacent parking garage and coring through an internal wall.
  • Openings of the safe-deposit boxes began on December 27 at about 10:45 a.m. and continued for roughly four hours before the break-in was discovered two days later by a fire alarm.
  • Nearly all of the roughly 3,250 safe-deposit boxes were opened, leaving the vault and archive rooms strewn with items now undergoing forensic examination.
  • Police report the perpetrators used chemical liquids to try to erase DNA traces, complicating evidence recovery.
  • Officials are examining whether the alarm system was disabled or manipulated and whether insider help occurred, as reported estimates put losses near €30 million and customers face a €10,300 per-claim cap requiring proof.