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Investigators secure traces on one of the robbed vans in Cologne in 2019
Photo: Oliver Berg / dpa
The Reemtsma kidnapper Thomas Drach is suspected of several brutal robberies on money transporters.
Years of investigations by the Braunschweig public prosecutor in a comparable case against the now 60-year-old have now been discontinued due to the statute of limitations.
The law enforcement officers had also suspected Drach of a 1995 robbery of a money truck.
"If you take all the evidence together, from our point of view a participation is likely," said a spokesman for the prosecution.
The procedure with heavy weapons in Braunschweig was also similar to later raids.
The public prosecutor's office had therefore still brought charges in October 2020.
Since there were only circumstantial evidence in addition to the witness statements, the Braunschweig Regional Court refused to open main proceedings.
"From today's perspective, there is a lot to be said for it, but it does not change anything from a formal legal perspective," said the spokesman.
"We can no longer follow this."
Decision on extradition is pending
According to “Welt am Sonntag”, which previously reported on the statute of limitations, Drach could have stolen 1.5 million marks (equivalent to 767,000 euros) from an accomplice in the attack at the time.
Witnesses are said to have stated that Drach bragged about the attack and suddenly had a lot of money.
After his arrest in the Netherlands, Drach is in extradition custody in Amsterdam on Tuesday.
A judge had extended the detention on Friday again.
Contrary to expectations, the court had not yet dealt with the extradition request from the Cologne public prosecutor's office.
She suspects him to have been involved in three robberies in Cologne and Frankfurt / Main in 2018 and 2019.
A security guard was seriously injured in a robbery.
The investigators had found Drach via an escape vehicle registered in the Netherlands.
There is still a search for possible accomplices.
Should the robbery bring money for the kidnapping?
According to “Welt am Sonntag”, the accomplice in the Braunschweig deed was the Australian Lionel D., who went to his home country with his share of the booty and was never bothered for the act.
The attack could have served to raise money for the planned kidnapping of Jan Philipp Reemtsma.
In March 1996 Drach kidnapped the Hamburg heir of the tobacco dynasty together with his younger brother Lutz and three other men.
Together they made millions.
He was caught two years later in South America, but was released in autumn 2013 after a long prison sentence in Germany.
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apr / dpa