Watch robbery total damage amounts to 32 million euros

It must have been one of the biggest robberies in recent years: On November 19, two men broke into a vault in Berlin’s Charlottenburg district and stole items worth several million euros. Investigations have shown that the crypto start-up Timeless was also affected by the burglary. That reported the business medium Finance Forward.

According to consistent media reports, the loot is said to have been worth at least 10 million euros. However, as BTC-ECHO has now exclusively learned, the overall damage from the slump is higher than previously assumed.

“The damage amounts to 32 million euros,” confirms a spokesman for the Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office to BTC-ECHO.

Crypto start-up Timeless: Customers get their invested capital back

You can buy tokenized shares in luxury items such as paintings or Rolex watches via the Berlin start-up Timeless. The crypto fintech stored some of these luxury watches in lockers in a vault of a former private bank near Berlin’s Ku’damm. Those same lockers are now among those breached in the November 19 robbery.

On December 5, Timeless informed its customer base that the fintech was among the victims of the burglary. It is uncertain at this point in time how much the damage will be in relation to the total amount of 32 million euros. Nevertheless, Timeless emphasized several times that all assets are insured against such cases.

“Timeless only kept watch assets in the affected high-security system, Timeless customers are protected against the loss of the assets at all times – they receive the repayment of their individual purchase costs including fees,” explains a spokeswoman for the Berlin start-up to BTC- ECHO. However, there is no possible return. “We currently expect to receive a schedule from the insurance company for repayments within the next two weeks,” it said. How many watches are affected by Timeless is currently unknown. One could not comment on the current investigation of the incident.

Timeless shared the looted lockers with the watch retailer Watchmaster, among others. research According to t-online, the company had 2,200 watches stored there at the time of the burglary – almost half were stolen by the thieves. Due to the resulting damage, the watch dealer subsequently had to file for bankruptcy.

Timeless writes the following on the subject of insolvency: “Should we run out of funds – which will not happen – the shares of all users who have invested with us are protected in any case, as the shares are transferred to the buyer.”

Police appeal for help with investigation

The Berlin police and public prosecutor’s office are unsurprisingly assuming that the crime was planned. Among other things, the burglars sprayed paint on video cameras in the locker system. In addition, they are said to have had “prior knowledge of the location and the safety precautions there”, according to one Report of the authorities.

“The fact that planning was necessary can ultimately be concluded from the fact that various security precautions had to be overcome and of course the escape from the scene of the crime had to be prepared,” explains a spokesman for the Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office to BTC-ECHO.

In addition to the safe deposit boxes from companies such as Timeless and Watchmaster, valuables such as gold, money and jewelery were also stolen from private individuals. In order to cover their tracks, the burglars also tried to start a fire in the vault, which the police said was “only partially” successful.

The authorities are currently calling for help in their investigation and have set a reward for information at 5,000 euros. In addition, private individuals are offering a reward of 20,000 euros.