Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 28, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 28, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleVictims of a German bank heist have filed lawsuits citing lax security. The heist, during Christmas, saw thieves access a vault in Gelsenkirchen.
By Tom Sims
FRANKFURT, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The first lawsuits were filed on Wednesday by victims of a German bank heist in December, when burglars used the quiet Christmas period to drill their way into its vault and make off with millions, a lawyer said.
The lawyer, Daniel Kuhlmann, said three cases were lodged with a court in Essen, Germany, holding the bank liable for damages for what he called lax security.
Masked thieves last month accessed a branch of a savings bank in the western city of Gelsenkirchen through a parking garage, allowing them to bore into a vault with thousands of safety deposit boxes, police have said.
The episode shocked Germany and made headlines internationally.
The court in Essen said it was unable to comment at this point.
The bank, Sparkasse Gelsenkirchen, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but has said it was itself a victim of the crime and that its premises were "secured in accordance with recognised state-of-the-art technology".
One of the lawsuits filed on Wednesday related to a retired person who had almost 400,000 euros ($480,000) in cash in the vault from the sale of an apartment, Kuhlmann said.
Another victim, the CEO of a medium-sized company, had stored cash, jewellery and a Rolex watch worth around 120,000 euros in total, while a third had around 50,000 euros worth of gold in the vault, the lawyer said.
The bank has said the contents of security boxes are generally insured for 10,300 euros each.
Mark Branson, president of Germany's BaFin banking regulator, said on Wednesday the theft was "spectacular" and "attracted a lot of attention, including the question of what is insured and what customers need to know about insurance coverage".
($1 = 0.8348 euros)
(Reporting by Tom Sims. Editing by Thomas Seythal and Mark Potter)
A bank heist is a robbery that involves stealing money or valuables from a bank, often using force or intimidation.
Lax security refers to insufficient protective measures that fail to adequately safeguard a location or assets from theft or harm.
Liability in banking refers to the bank's legal responsibility for safeguarding customer assets and ensuring security measures are in place.
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