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CRIME

Police collar robber who threatened bank with bomb

Frankfurt police have captured a robber who threatened to detonate a bomb inside a bank in the German financial capital on Monday morning.

Published: 25 January 2016 12:27 CET
Police collar robber who threatened bank with bomb
File photo: DPA

The man entered the branch on a large main road in the Dornbusch area north of the city centre at around 9.40 am.

He said that he had a bomb and was prepared to blow himself up, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported.

A police spokesman told the Frankfurter Rundschau that the robber had placed a package on the bank counter that staff believed to be a bomb.

After the cashiers handed over an unknown amount of cash, the robber fled – only to be caught around an hour later by police at the city's convention grounds (Messegelände).

Law enforcement tweeted that they had got their man at 10.44 am, adding that no-one was hurt.

Police had launched a huge search involving large numbers of officers and a helicopter.

A bomb dog sent to the bank found no trace of explosives, police tweeted.

That allowed the lifting of a blockade on the streets and U-Bahn stations on the U1, U2, U3 and U8 lines around the branch – although there were continuing delays on some lines.

SEE ALSO: Inept criminals blast roof off bank outside Berlin

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CRIME

Aide to German far-right MEP arrested on suspicion of spying for China

An aide to a German far-right politician standing in June's European Union elections has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China, German prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Published: 23 April 2024 10:16 CEST
Aide to German far-right MEP arrested on suspicion of spying for China

The man, named only as Jian G., stands accused of sharing information about negotiations at European Parliament with a Chinese intelligence service and of spying on Chinese opposition figures in Germany, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

On the website of the European Parliament, Jian Guo is listed as an accredited assistant to MEP Maximilian Krah, the far-right AfD party’s lead candidate in the forthcoming EU-wide elections.

He is a German national who has reportedly worked as an aide to Krah in Brussels since 2019.

The suspect “is an employee of a Chinese secret service”, prosecutors said.

“In January 2024, the accused repeatedly passed on information about negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament to his intelligence service client.

“He also spied on Chinese opposition members in Germany for the intelligence service.”

The suspect was arrested in the eastern German city of Dresden on Monday and his homes were searched, they added.

The accused lives in both Dresden and Brussels, according to broadcasters ARD, RBB and SWR, who broke the news about the arrest.

The AfD said the allegations were “very disturbing”.

“As we have no further information on the case, we must wait for further investigations by federal prosecutors,” party spokesman Michael Pfalzgraf said in a statement.

The case is likely to fuel concern in the West about aggressive Chinese espionage.

It comes after Germany on Monday arrested three German nationals suspected of spying for China by providing access to secret maritime technology.

READ ALSO: Germany arrests three suspected of spying for China

China’s embassy in Berlin “firmly” rejected the allegations, according to Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua.

According to German media, the two cases are not connected.

In Britain on Monday, two men were charged with handing over “articles, notes, documents or information” to China between 2021 and last year.

Police named the men as Christopher Berry, 32, and Christoper Cash, 29, who previously worked at the UK parliament as a researcher.

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