Trial over million-dollar coup - Burglary in Berlin vault: verdict in sight
In the trial regarding the break-in at a vault room in Berlin-Charlottenburg with a haul worth millions, a verdict is expected after approximately nine months of proceedings. The prosecution argued for prison sentences ranging from three and a half to nine years. The defenders' pleas were continued on Thursday. The Berlin Regional Court plans to announce a verdict on July 18, according to current plans.
The men, aged 26 to 53, are charged with common burglary in a particularly aggravated form. During the sensational incident on November 19, 2022, 295 safes were broken into, and luxury watches, cash, precious metals, and securities were stolen. After the evidence collection, the prosecutor stated in his plea that the proceeds were likely to be at least around 21 million Euro. "The whereabouts of the loot are unknown."
A former business manager of the company had confessed
The prosecutor requested nine years in prison for a 42-year-old defendant. "The threads have converged in the background." He had "orchestrated everything" and acted "very professionally." For a 28-year-old man, who is alleged to have broken safes with yet unidentified accomplices, the prosecutor demanded an eight-year sentence. For a 26-year-old, six years were requested, and for a 43-year-old, a five-year prison term was proposed.
The least severe sentence of three and a half years in prison was requested by the prosecution against the co-defendant, a 53-year-old former business manager of the company that had rented the vault facility. The man had confessed. He is alleged to have made common cause with the four other defendants, who the prosecution attributes to the Clan criminality milieu. The term Clan criminality is controversial because, according to critics, it stigmatizes and discriminates against people based on their family background and origin.
When the burglars stood in front of the vault's door on Fasanenstraße, they were well-equipped: The business manager is said to have handed them transponders, keys, and access codes beforehand. He had also recently dismissed the previous security service for the facility and replaced it with a security service of the alleged accomplices and deactivated the alarm system.
- The burglary in Berlin-Charlottenburg involved a vault filled with luxury watches, cash, precious metals, and securities worth millions.
- The public prosecutor's office argued for severe prison sentences for the defendants, citing their role in the aggravated burglary.
- The process in the Berlin Regional Court regarding this high-profile burglary case is expected to conclude with a verdict on July 18.
- The defendants, including a former business manager, are accused of stealing millions in valuable jewelry and precious metals during the incident on November 19, 2022.
- The former business manager, age 53, confessed to his involvement in the burglary and was charged with common burglary, facing a prison sentence of three and a half years.
