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No leads in Berlin poker heist investigation

Police on Monday said they had no leads in their investigation of the spectacular robbery of a high stakes poker tournament at one of Berlin’s fanciest hotels over the weekend.

Published: 8 March 2010 09:00 CET
Updated: 8 March 2010 13:50 CET

No leads in Berlin poker heist investigation

Photo: DPA

Investigators also refused to reveal just how much cash the four masked, machete-wielding suspects made off with from the luxury Grand Hyatt hotel, which was hosting the European Poker Tour on Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile organisers said the suspects were on the run with about €242,000, down from initial reports of €800,000. The money is said to be part of the €5,000 tournament buy-ins from competitors.

On Monday the head of Germany’s police union Rainer Wendt told broadcaster NTV that the perpetrators were amateurs.

“The way they were armed and behaved, as well as the mountain of evidence they left behind already indicates that the police will quickly identify them,” he added.

He said the gang had plumbed “new depths of stupidity to carry out such a aid in front of running surveillance cameras.”

In what was described by Berlin-based daily Der Tagesspiegel as “the most spectacular heist for years,” the four-person gang, armed with handguns and machetes, burst into the hotel, threatening security staff and sparking a panic.

Images of the chaotic scenes during the raid were broadcast by the N24 television station, showing furniture overturned and poker players hiding under tables and trying to escape.

Amid the chaos, one of the security guards managed to tear a bag full of cash from the robbers. Seven people sustained minor injuries in the crush.

Interviewed in Der Tagesspiegel, the guard said, “I just wanted to protect the money. You don’t think of anything in that situation, just your duty.”

Witnesses said the whole incident lasted less than 10 minutes and the gang fled out into the streets around Potsdamer Platz, one of Berlin’s busiest squares.

A statement on the tournament website called on anyone with photo or video footage of the robbery to hand it over to police.

The competition started on Tuesday with nearly 1,000 players, including German tennis legend Boris Becker.

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Germany, Czech Republic accuse Russia of cyberattacks

The accusations come at a time of strained relations between Moscow and the West following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the European Union’s support for Kyiv.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said a newly concluded government investigation found that a cyberattack targeting members of the Social Democratic Party had been carried out by a group known as APT28.

APT28 “is steered by the military intelligence service of Russia”, Baerbock told reporters during a visit to Australia.

“In other words, it was a state-sponsored Russian cyberattack on Germany and this is absolutely intolerable and unacceptable and will have consequences.”

APT28, also known as Fancy Bear, has been accused of dozens of cyberattacks in countries around the world. Russia denies being behind such actions.

The hacking attack on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD party was made public last year. Hackers exploited a previously unknown vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook to compromise e-mail accounts, according to Berlin.

Berlin on Friday summoned the acting charge d’affaires of the Russian embassy over the incident.

The Russian embassy in Germany said its envoy “categorically rejected the accusations that Russian state structures were involved in the given incident… as unsubstantiated and groundless”.

Arms, aerospace targeted: Berlin

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the cyber campaign was orchestrated by Russia’s military intelligence service GRU and began in 2022. It also targeted German companies in the armaments and aerospace sectors, she said.

Such cyberattacks are “a threat to our democracy, national security and our free societies”, she told a joint news conference in Prague with her Czech counterpart Vit Rakusan.

“We are calling on Russia again to stop these activities,” Faeser added.

Czech government officials said some of its state institutions had also been the target of cyberattacks blamed on APT28, again by exploiting a weakness in Microsoft Outlook in 2023.

Czech Interior Minister Rakusan said his country’s infrastructure had recently experienced “higher dozens” of such attacks.

“The Czech Republic is a target. In the long term, it has been perceived by the Russian Federation as an enemy state,” he told reporters.

EU, NATO condemnation

The German and Czech findings triggered strong condemnation from the European Union.

“The malicious cyber campaign shows Russia’s continuous pattern of irresponsible behaviour in cyberspace, by targeting democratic institutions, government entities and critical infrastructure providers across the European Union and beyond,” EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said.

The EU would “make use of the full spectrum of measures to prevent, deter and respond to Russia’s malicious behaviour in cyberspace”, he added.

State institutions, agencies and entities in other member states including in Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Sweden had been targeted by APT28 in the past, the statement added.

The latest accusations come a day after NATO expressed “deep concern” over Russia’s “hybrid actions” including disinformation, sabotage and cyber interference.

The row also comes as millions of Europeans prepare to go to the polls for the European Parliament elections in June, and concerns about foreign meddling are running high.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky told AFP that “pointing a finger publicly at a specific attacker is an important tool to protect national interests”.

One of the most high-profile incidents so far blamed on Fancy Bear was a cyberattack in 2015 that paralysed the computer network of the German lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. It forced the entire institution offline for days while it was fixed.

In 2020, the EU imposed sanctions on individuals and entities linked to the APT28 group over the incident.

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