'Ala Ocean's Eleven' Gang Steals Cash and Gold Worth IDR 588 Billion from Bank during Holiday

JAKARTA - A group of thieves using a large drill managed to break into a German bank safe during the Christmas holidays, stealing cash, gold and jewelry worth 30 million euros (Rp588,357,000,000), police and bank officials said.

The gang broke into more than 3,000 safe deposit boxes and carried off the stolen goods in a heist in the western German city of Gelsenkirchen.

Police said the thieves drilled their way into the Sparkasse savings bank's underground vault from a parking garage.

It is known that businesses in Germany are closed for the Christmas holidays on December 25-26. Investigators suspect that the gang may have spent the holidays and weekends inside the building, breaking into safe deposit boxes.

The bank said the branch was "broken into over the Christmas holidays" and "more than 95 percent of the 3,250 customer safe deposit boxes were broken into by unknown perpetrators".

The burglary was revealed after a fire alarm sounded early Monday morning and emergency services officers found the hole.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing several men carrying large bags on the stairs of a parking garage at night from Saturday to Sunday, police said, quoted by The National (10/1).

Security camera footage shows a black Audi RS 6 leaving a parking garage on Monday morning, with masked men inside.

The car's license plate was stolen in the city of Hanover, police said.

A police spokesman told AFP the burglary was "really well-organised", likening it to the Ocean's Eleven heist films.

"A lot of prior knowledge and/or a lot of criminal energy must have been involved to plan and execute this," he said.

Police said the thousands of boxes had an average insurance value of more than 10,000 euros, and therefore estimated a total value of 30 million euros.

Some victims told police their losses far exceeded the value of their safe deposit box coverage.

A police spokesman said "disgruntled customers" were outside the bank branch, which was closed for security reasons, after threats were made against employees.

"We are still at the location, monitoring the situation," he said.

"The situation has been much calmer," he added.

A bank spokesman said they had set up a special telephone line for customers and all those affected would be notified in writing as soon as possible.

He said they were working with the insurance company to determine how to process the claim.

"We are shocked," said press spokesman Frank Krallmann.

"We support our customers and hope the perpetrators will be caught," he added.