Four individuals implicated in the theft of ancient Celtic artifacts.
In November 2022, an unexplained outage hit the telecommunications and phone services in Manching, a town in Bavaria. Not long after, a significant gold treasure, known as the Manching Celtic hoard, vanished from its display at the local Celtic and Roman Museum. Now, four individuals face trial, charged with more than just this single heist.
Over two years later, the Ingolstadt public prosecutor's office has filed a lawsuit against these suspects, ranging in age from 43 to 51. Accusations against them include breaking into the museum using heavy equipment in November 2022 and making off with the Celtic gold treasure. The value of this historical collection, comprising approximately 500 coins dating back to around 100 BC, is estimated at roughly 1.5 million euros. Weighing 3.78 kilograms, it was a major archaeological find of the late 1990s and a source of immense pride for the museum.
The defendants are believed to have sabotaged a telecom node owned by Deutsche Telekom in Manching prior to the theft, causing internet and phone services to fail in over 13,000 residences and affecting 14 mobile phone towers.
Serial thieves on trial
Three of the accused hail from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, while the fourth resides in Berlin. They have all been in custody since their arrest in July 2023. Gold lumps were retrieved from one of the suspects, with experts estimating that approximately 70 ancient coins, weighing around 500 grams, had been melted into these gold lumps. The fate of the remaining gold coins remains unknown.
Looking into the case, Bavarian investigators claim that the defendants are seasoned criminals who have been running the same modus operandi for decades. Between 2014 and 2022, they are alleged to have carried out another 30 major thefts, predominantly targeting supermarkets, licensing offices, fast food restaurants, and gas stations. Numerous safes were breached in the process. A year prior to the theft, the accused are said to have sabotaged the power supply in the region, halting their attempt when the alarm system did not fail.
The gold lumps retrieved from one of the suspects suggest that a portion of the valuable Celtic coins were melted down. The gold price of these coins, had they been sold on the market, could have significantly contributed to their criminal earnings.
