On Thursday, German officials announced that six men had been charged with aggravated gang robbery and arson in connection to 2019’s audacious Dresden Jewel Heist, which was quickly labeled the biggest theft Germany has suffered since World War II. Two years ago, the thieves managed to set a fire in an electrical distribution area within the “Green Vault” of the Royal Palace of Dresden, which subsequently cut the power to the lights surrounding the museum and ignited a nearby car. The thieves then made off with three sets of 18th century gems that included 21 pieces of jewelry in total.
These pieces of jewelry were collectively encrusted with over 4,300 diamonds, and when the theft was first reported, it was said that since the jewelry’s presence in the museum is crucial to contextualizing the history of Saxony and its statehood, the monetary amount of the loss literally could not be calculated. Now, prosecutors are saying that the insured value of the pieces amounts to $135 million, which still makes the theft by far the most significant in recent German history.
German officials revealed this week that the suspects were six German nationals between the ages of 22 and 27; though they’ve not been named, the officials added that the suspects had at one point acted as members of the “Remmo clan.” In 2020, German officers apprehended 21 year old Mohamed Remmo, who was found to have many ties to the prolific criminal family known for pulling off ambitious art heists, in connection to the Dresden theft; it’s not clear whether Mohammed Remmo was among the suspects charged this week.
Nevertheless, the Remmos are known for their daring. In 2020, Ahmed and Wissam Remmo were sentenced to over four years in prison for breaking into Berlin’s Bode Museum and snatching a commemorative coin of Queen Elizabeth II that weighs around 221 pounds.
