A German court handed down prison sentences of up to six years on Tuesday to five members of a gang responsible for a major heist of 18th-century jewels from a museum in Dresden. The theft, described as the largest art robbery in modern times, resulted in the defendants from the “Remmo clan” obtaining loot valued at over 113 million euros ($123 million) from the Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vault) museum in 2019.
Although the trial did not fully unravel the details of the heist, and despite the partial recovery of the stolen pieces due to confessions from four of the defendants, some items remain missing. The daring robbery took place on November 25, 2019, at one of Europe’s oldest museums, and experts have hailed it as the most significant art theft in recent history.
The court in Dresden, located in eastern Germany, sentenced the individuals, currently aged between 24 and 29, to prison terms ranging from four years and four months to six years and three months. The charges against them included aggravated robbery as part of an organized gang, carrying a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment.
In December 2022, a substantial portion of the stolen loot, valued at 60 million euros, was recovered following negotiations between the defense and the prosecution. This agreement involved a certain degree of leniency in exchange for the return of some of the 18th-century jewels. However, several works of art remain missing.
The trial, which commenced in January 2022, shed light on the audacious heist but left lingering questions regarding the operation. Judge Andreas Ziegel, presiding over the hearing, characterized the act as a display of “remarkable criminal intent” by the thieves against “one of the world’s oldest and richest treasure collections.”
The missing pieces, including a diamond-encrusted sword and a shoulder piece featuring a 49-carat white diamond, continue to elude investigators. Around 40 individuals suspected of involvement in planning the robbery are still being sought by authorities.