Overview
- About 3,100 safe‑deposit boxes were emptied within hours, with losses estimated in the high millions as the bank alarm did not trigger.
- NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul said the perpetrators manipulated a connection‑door lock from the parking garage and covered a motion detector.
- Police expanded the investigation to roughly 350 officers under special unit BAO “Bohrer,” rented additional space, work around the clock, and are reviewing thousands of hours of video alongside tips from a national TV appeal.
- Victim interviews began on January 19 and are expected to last weeks, while the Sparkasse catalogs several hundred thousand items left behind with notarial oversight.
- Lawyers have signed up hundreds of clients for potential claims, with one citing an unverified prior toilet‑paper theft to argue security lapses as the bank maintains the branch met recognized technical standards.