Joint press release by the Düsseldorf public prosecutor's office and the State Criminal Police Office of North Rhine-Westphalia
On Thursday (July 30, 2020), detectives from the NRW State Criminal Police Office arrested a jeweller in Wuppertal. An arrest warrant had previously been obtained for the 54-year-old on suspicion of commercial gang theft. In addition, several jewelry stores and apartments in Wuppertal and Düsseldorf were searched.
The background to this is extensive research by the investigative commission of the Organized Crime Department of the NRW State Criminal Police Office and the Düsseldorf public prosecutor's office, which led to the arrest of a Düsseldorf man (32) back in April 2019. The 32-year-old is accused of several fraud offenses to the detriment of elderly people. Together with other accomplices, he had handed over the gold obtained from the crimes to the suspect. The jewelry dealer then forwarded the gold to the accomplices in Turkey.
In addition to extensive evidence, assets worth around 1.3 million euros were also confiscated during the searches. The investigation is ongoing.