Gold treasure stolen

Celtic gang: coups like in the movies here too

The most prominent stolen property is this Celtic treasure. The gang looted this ATM in Mistelbach, Lower Austria.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Frank Maechler, AFP/Christof Stache)

Four well-off Germans are to stand trial in Ingolstadt (Germany) on Tuesday. They are said to have stolen the oldest Celtic gold treasure during a spectacular burglary at a museum in Manching, Bavaria. The highlight: the professional gang also hit us!

"This coup was probably carried out by absolute professionals," the newspaper Krone quoted an employee of the supermarket in Mistelbach (Lower Austria) in September 2017, where a gang had plundered an ATM at express speed. The woman was right, even though it took many years for the German special SOKO "Oppidum" to catch the burglars.

Noble gang made eight million euros in loot
The highlight: it is apparently the same group of criminals who stole the largest Celtic gold treasure found during excavations in the 20th century in a spectacular break-in at a museum in Manching, Bavaria, two years ago. According to the "Bild" newspaper, the thieves paralyzed 14 mobile phone masts around the Celtic museum, broke open a display case and escaped within eight minutes with 483 2100-year-old gold coins.

A DNA trace on a blue crowbar found in a pond finally led to the gang. They are four well-off Germans, including 44-year-old Berlin wine merchant Maximilian S. The men are said to be responsible for dozens of robberies with a total haul of eight million euros. The high-class thieves will go on trial next Tuesday at Ingolstadt District Court in Germany.

The most prominent stolen property is this Celtic treasure. The gang looted this ATM in Mistelbach, Lower Austria.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Frank Maechler, AFP/Christof Stache)

The historical coins were apparently melted down. Only these pieces were found.

(Bild: Privat)

In addition to the theft of the Celtic gold treasure, which was apparently melted down and of which only a few lumps were found, dozens of cases of serious gang theft have been charged. Including the supermarket burglary in Mistelbach.

Burglary like in a gangster movie
Dressed in black overalls with balaclavas, crowbars, screwdrivers and angle grinders, the burglary was apparently like something out of a gangster movie: the Germans allegedly removed the fuses from eight street lamps around the Merkur supermarket and cut cables in the distribution box to disable the alarm system. They used a crowbar to open the emergency exit and used an angle grinder to open the ATM there - loot: 87,000 euros. They then probably doused the ATM with cleaning agents from the market to cool it down and cover up any traces.

In 2017, the "Krone" reported on the professional coups in Lower Austria, which now appear to have been solved.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

And yet another burglary in Austria is said to be the work of the Keltengold thieves. In October 2017, they broke into a supermarket in Krems (Lower Austria). There, the burglars foamed the alarm system with construction foam and covered it with black adhesive tape. They destroyed the emergency lighting and forced open a safe on the second floor containing 25,000 euros.

Bizarre techniques to cover their tracks
This time, the gang used the contents of a fire extinguisher to cover their tracks. In other cases, they used ketchup, orange juice and Coca-Cola. The "Krone" will report on the sensational trial.