justice
After million coup in savings bank: verdict on compensation
In 2021, unknown perpetrators broke into the locker room of a Norderstedt Sparkasse branch. They stole money, gold, jewelry and many other valuables. photo
© Jonas Walzberg/dpa
Criminals break into a Sparkasse branch and plunder hundreds of lockers. There is no trace of the loot in the tens of millions. How must the Sparkasse compensate its customers?
Almost two years after the spectacular break-in of more than 600 lockers at a Norderstedt Sparkasse branch, the Hamburg Regional Court wants to announce a judgment on compensation for several locker owners. The customers have them Hamburger Sparkasse (Haspa) sued for damages.
The legal dispute concerns the question of whether Haspa breached its obligations in securing the vault. After an oral hearing in April, the civil chamber wants to announce its verdict on Thursday (2:30 p.m.). The Holstein town of Norderstedt borders directly on Hamburg.
Disagree on total damage
On August 6, 2021, unknown perpetrators used a core drill to break into the locker room from an apartment above the Haspa branch through a concrete ceiling. They stole money, gold, jewelry and many other valuables from the locked lockers. The alarm system did not go off. Lawyer Jürgen Hennemann, who claims to represent a dozen customers, assumes total damage of around 40 million euros. Haspa estimates the damage at 11 million euros.
One of the customers demands 150,000 euros back. The older man had deposited this amount in cash in a locker in the Norderstedt branch. He actually wanted to take the money home with him because Haspa demanded a custody fee (penalty interest) for his credit balance of more than EUR 50,000. A Haspa employee warned him that it was too unsafe and offered the locker as an alternative. Another case involves cash of at least 25,000 euros as well as gold bars and gold coins.
Safety precautions sufficient?
The liability was limited to 40,000 euros per locker according to the conditions of the bank. If Haspa has breached its security obligations, the presiding judge Christoph Ruholl explained at the meeting in April that this would result in a higher liability for damages. In an initial assessment, the chamber referred to an earlier attempted break-in of a similar pattern into a Haspa branch in Hamburg-Altona. That should have led to improved safety precautions in Norderstedt.
The burglary made headlines nationwide. However, an extensive search including searches in Berlin and a contribution to the ZDF program “Aktenzeichen XY… unsolved” has so far failed to bring the police on the trail of the perpetrators.