Real-life ‘Ocean’s Eleven’: How robbers drilled into German bank vault and stole millions in cash, valuables

Most people were on the edge of their seats when George Clooney and his team robbed three casinos in Las Vegas in the blockbuster film Ocean’s Eleven. Now, it seems the movie served as inspiration for a bank heist in the German city of Gelsenkirchen in North Rhine-Westphalia state, where thieves drilled their way into the underground vault of a Sparkasse savings bank. They stole cash, gold, and jewellery worth €30 million (Rs 316 crore).

Hearing about the heist, hundreds of bank customers collected outside the branch, demanding information about their stolen items. The police have stated that the thieves used a large drill to break into the vault and smash open more than 3,000 safe deposit boxes.

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The robbers used the quiet Christmas days to their advantage to execute the highly professional operation. German news agency DPA reported that the theft could be one of Germany’s largest heists.

Here is what exactly unfolded during the heist.

The robbery at the bank

Thieves used the quiet Christmas period to make their way into the vault of the German retail bank Sparkasse on Nienhofstrasse in the Buer district of Gelsenkirchen. The robbers smashed open more than 3,000 safety deposit boxes. Cash, gold and jewellery worth €30 million were stolen during the heist.

The incident came to light on Monday when a fire alarm went off shortly before 4 am, prompting the police and the fire brigade to search the building. When the investigators reached the vault, a large hole in the basement wall gaped at them. Investigators suspect that the gang may have spent the holidays and the weekend inside the vault since businesses in Germany were closed for Christmas on Thursday and Friday last week.

Issuing a statement, the bank said, “The branch was broken into over the Christmas holidays and more than 95 per cent of the 3,250 customer safe deposit boxes were broken into by unknown perpetrators.”

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Initial investigations suggested the thieves accessed the bank through an adjacent parking garage and used it to escape as well. This was confirmed as witnesses reported seeing several men carrying large bags in the stairwell of the parking garage during the night from Saturday to Sunday, police said.

Early Monday morning, the group chose a high-performance black Audi RS 6 as their getaway vehicle. The footage shows them making the active decision to keep their faces covered as they exited the garage, hoping the timing and their masks would help them evade detection. The vehicle’s licence plate was that of a car stolen in Hanover, more than 200 kilometres to the northeast of Gelsenkirchen, police said.

The German police have stated that no arrests have been made so far and the suspects remain at large. A police spokesperson likened the operation to the Hollywood-style heist Ocean’s Eleven, pointing to the meticulous planning and precision with which it was carried out.

“A great deal of prior knowledge and/or a great deal of criminal energy must have been involved to plan and carry this out,” the spokesperson told news agency AFP.

Police further said the thousands of boxes had an average insurance value of more than 10,000 euros, and therefore estimated the damage at some 30 million euros.

Bank customers speak up

The branch of the bank where the incident took place remained closed following the theft, with the police securing the entrance on Tuesday (December 30) after nearly 200 customers gathered outside the entrance demanding information and chanting loudly, “Let us in!”

Several victims told police that their losses far exceeded the insured value of their safe deposit boxes.

“I couldn’t sleep last night. We’re getting no information,” one man told the Welt broadcaster, according to news agency Reuters, as he waited outside the branch. He added that he had been using the safe for 25 years and that it contained his savings for old age.

Another man said he used his deposit box to store cash and jewellery for his family.

Similar heists

The heist at the German bank evokes memories of the robbery at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. The world’s most-visited museum experienced a stunning heist in October when thieves stole items and artefacts worth millions and millions.

In a daring theft, robbers stole a diamond-and-emerald necklace gifted by Napoleon to Empress Marie-Louise, jewels connected to queens Marie-Amalie and Hortense, and a pearl-and-diamond tiara worn by Empress Eugénie, Napoleon III’s wife.

Footage from museum cameras showed that the two who broke into the ornate Apollo Gallery used grinders to cut into jewellery display cases. The thieves rolled in with a truck-mounted basket lift, slipped through a window of the Apollo Gallery, and were gone with the Crown Jewels in minutes.

With inputs from agencies