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Poker heist haul still a mystery despite arrests

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Poker heist haul still a mystery despite arrests
Photo: DPA

Despite having five suspects in custody over the recent spectacular poker heist in Berlin, police have recovered just €4,000 of the estimated €242,000 stolen, authorities said Tuesday.

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One of the five suspects arrested had handed over the €4,000 – part of the €5,000 he received after the robbery, which took place at a poker tournament at Berlin’s luxury Park Hyatt hotel just over two weeks ago.

“The rest he spent on the run, according to the information he’s given,” said state prosecution spokesman Martin Steltner.

He said the members of the gang had been given highly unequal shares of the haul – with three of the robbers getting up to €45,000 each while another had to make do with €5,000. The largest share, €100,000, went to the gang’s mastermind.

This mastermind had “given his share to someone,” Steltner said.

With the vast majority of the haul still missing, police were looking for further suspects, including “clients and backers,” said police chief Dieter Glietsch.

The men had burst into the hotel at Potsdamer Platz at 2:15 pm on March 6, overrunning security guards and causing panic among the roughly 400 contestants in the European Poker Tour Tournament.

A security guard managed to disarm one of the men, grab a bag full of money and hold the man in a headlock, but he was freed by his accomplices. Several people were injured during the heist, but none seriously.

The men then fled without their masks. They were filmed leaving and also left behind fingerprints and DNA evidence at the scene.

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