A man considered to be the mastermind of the robbery of an armored van in Switzerland, accompanied by the kidnapping of the daughter of one of the conveyors, was sentenced on Wednesday to 16 years in prison, a sentence pronounced in his absence.
Mehdi A, 40, was found guilty by the Rhône Assize Court, in Lyon, of armed robbery in an organized gang and kidnapping.
First on the run, the man was imprisoned and sentenced in December 2022 in Tunisia, in a case of false documents, according to information received by the court on the day of the opening of the proceedings.
The court upheld the warrant for his arrest.
The Advocate General had requested 20 years in prison.
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The court sentenced Yusuf K., 32, to 6 years' imprisonment for complicity.
The jury considered that this former conveyor had provided decisive information to the team of criminals from Lyon, which he disputed during the six days of hearing.
The penalty is accompanied in particular by a permanent ban on exercising a profession in the transport of funds.
Free at the hearing after two years of pre-trial detention, he was the subject of a warrant of committal.
A third man, Pascal G., 48, was sentenced for concealment of 2.5 million euros, to 4 years in prison, including 2 years suspended.
He should get a sentence adjustment.
The jurors found that the alleged gang leader's childhood friend had no knowledge of the exact origin of the loot hidden in his home.
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An acquittal was pronounced against a fourth defendant, initially prosecuted for criminal association.
Indicted in another case of theft of precious metals with sequestration, Mehdi B., 30, remains in detention.
Another defendant, hospitalized the day before the hearing for stomach aches, is to be tried in the coming months.
His case was severed.
The investigation established that at least six criminals committed the robbery and the simultaneous kidnapping of the daughter of the driver of the van.
On a booty of 25 million Swiss francs, 2.5 million were found on anonymous denunciation, in a trunk buried in the garage of a house located in Ain.
Only two of the individuals - the convicted fugitive and the accused to come - are on trial for direct participation in the robbery of the van, perpetrated in Chavornay, in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.
Two Swiss nationals were also sentenced by the Lausanne criminal court for complicity.
