It seemed like the perfect crime, and so easy.
A few years ago, a giant 100 kg Canadian gold coin, with an estimated gold value of Eu 3.7 million, (C$5.8m) was on display in a Berlin museum. Then on March 27, 2017, it was gone,
German police were on the job though, and soon 4 men were arrested and two sentenced to four and half years in prison, a third to three years four months, and the fourth, Wayci Remmo was acquitted due to lack of evidence.
As it turned out, it was an ‘inside’ job, with cousins Ahmed and Wissam Remmo working with a childhood friend identified only as Dennis W. who had just been hired in 2017 to guard the coin.
The Bode Museum sits on an island in Berlin. Police are still investigating the theft of the ‘Big Maple Leaf’ coin, which disappeared from the museum in March 2017. , Thieves apparently accessed the museum from the elevated tram and railway tracks seen at the back of the museum. (Stefanie Loos/AFP/Getty Images))
Through investigating the guard, the police were led to Ahmed Remmo, who according to Deutsche Welle, is a member of a well-known Lebanese crime network in Germany. That investigation eventually to the convictions.
Though there had been arrests, the coin was never found and was suspected of having been cut up and sold in pieces.
Break in the case?
A possible break in the case comes two days after police arrested Mohammed Remmo, 21. He was arrested on Monday as a suspect in another major theft, that of 18th century jewels from a museum known as the ‘Green Vault’ in Dresden last year. His twin brother Abdul, remains at large.
Although police would not say if there was a connection with the arrest, German police this week raided more than a dozen jewelry shops and residences. Eight suspects of different nationalities have been detained ranging in age from 14 to 51, and police seized suspected counterfeit coins, counterfeiting tools and a ‘five figures’ sum of money,
The suspects are alleged to be part of a network that obtained stolen gold to melt it down into counterfeit collector coins to be sold through family connected jewelry stores.
Deutsche Welle reports that an investigator told Spiegel TV, “The chances are 50-50 that we will still find remnants of the gold coin.”
Additional information-sources
- Deutsche Welle: Dec 16/20: German police launch raids over Berlin Museum heist
- Associated Press (CBC): Dec 16/20: German police raid jewelry shops, homes in search of 100-kg Canadian gold coin
- Deutsche Welle: Feb 20.20: Berlin gold coin heist: 3 sentenced to jail
- BBC: Dec 15/20: Dresden Green Vault: fourth suspect arrested over German diamond heist
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