Västberga helicopter robbery
As a helicopter robbery of Västberga ( Swedish: Helikopterrånet i Västberga ) is a September 23, 2009 by a helicopter perpetrated robbery on a cash depot in Vastberga , a suburb of the Swedish capital Stockholm called. It has been described as the most spectacular heist in Swedish history. The perpetrators captured 39 million Swedish kronor , the equivalent of around 4.1 million euros .
Course of the raid
The perpetrators stole a Bell 206 JetRanger helicopter north of Stockholm . One of the perpetrators, a 34-year-old pilot and television producer, landed him at 5:15 a.m. on the roof of a money deposit of the security company G4S in Västberga. Three other perpetrators penetrated u. a. armed with assault rifles entered the depot over the roof. They blew open several doors. Several bags filled with banknotes were loaded onto the helicopter, and the perpetrators managed to escape by helicopter at 5:35 a.m. There were no injuries. The first police officers had already arrived at 5:25 a.m., but the police decided to wait for special forces to arrive due to the armed forces of the perpetrators and not to take action at first . Arterial roads were groomed by the perpetrators with crow's feet to make it difficult for the police to pursue them. At the hangar of a nearby, on the island Värmö , stationed police helicopter bomb dummies were deposited, thereby the use of this helicopter prevented. Therefore a police helicopter had to be requested from Gothenburg , which is about 400 km away . At 8:15 a.m., the helicopter used in the act was found abandoned north of Stockholm in Arninge, near Skavlöten.
Criticism of the police
The use of the Swedish police during the robbery was sometimes heavily criticized in the media . The Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet wrote that it was "just embarrassing when criminals can outsmart the police with a trick like something out of a children's crime novel". It became known that in 2008 the police chief of Dalarna province had sharply criticized the improvised hangar for its security deficiencies, in particular the lack of security. Corresponding deficiencies were admitted by the federal police after the robbery. The Serbian secret service BIA is said to have warned the Swedish authorities of the planned attack in early August, but this warning was not taken seriously. The Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dačić had confirmed the “timely” exchange of information to a Serbian newspaper.
Investigation and trial
The company G4S offered seven million crowns, the equivalent of around 685,000 euros, as a reward for hints about catching the perpetrators. Police arrested several people a week after the robbery. As the police emphasized, this was not done on the basis of clues, but through their own investigative work.
In October 2010, seven perpetrators were sentenced in the first instance to imprisonment of several years : the pilot and one of the perpetrators directly involved in the robbery to seven years' imprisonment each, three co-organizers of the offense to five or three years. Two people were sentenced to two years in prison for avoiding punishment by giving false alibi . Three defendants were acquitted.
In the second instance, the Regional Court in Stockholm u. a. the penalties for the pilot and the robber directly involved increased to eight years.
Consequences for Swedish payments
In the days following the robbery, the Swedish Trade Association feared that the cash supply could be jeopardized due to insufficient reserves. This was rejected by G4S. The Västberga helicopter robbery is cited as one of the reasons for the discussed abolition of cash in Sweden.
reception
- In the international media, the helicopter robbery is described as the “most spectacular robbery” or “most spectacular criminal case” in Swedish history.
- In 2010, Time Magazine listed the helicopter robbery in 10th place among the "most outrageous robberies of all time".
- In a scientific publication by Sandia National Laboratories on the subject of "The perfect robbery" on behalf of the US government, the helicopter robbery from Västberga is counted among the "most notorious robberies" with reference to the relevant literature. It is therefore a prime example of security deficiencies.
- The Swedish public television broadcaster SVT showed a six-part documentary Helikopterrånet in 2017 .
- The Swedish author Jonas Bonnier interviewed some of the perpetrators as well as other people involved. Based on this information, he wrote the semi-fictional novel Helikopterrånet . The rights to this were sold in 29 countries, in Germany the work was published under the title Der Helicopter Coup - Die millions Beute by Piper Verlag .
- The film rights to the novel were sold to the streaming service Netflix . The story will be filmed under the working title Helicopter Heist based on a script by Jonas Bonnier and Steven Knight and directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin . Jake Gyllenhaal is scheduled for the lead role .
Individual evidence
- ↑ How Sweden's most spectacular robbery happened Spiegel online from September 24, 2009, accessed on April 22, 2019
- ^ The air number Süddeutsche Zeitung of August 10, 2010, accessed on April 22, 2019
- ^ "The Helicopter Coup" by Jonas Bonnier on the WDR website
- ^ Trial in Sweden - prison sentences for the helicopter robbers Website of the Hamburger Abendblatt from October 7, 2010, accessed on April 24, 2019
- ↑ How Sweden's most spectacular robbery happened Spiegel online from September 24, 2009, accessed on April 22, 2019.
- ↑ Swedish police hold suspect after chopper robbery on the Reuters website on September 23, 2009, accessed on April 22, 2019
- ↑ The Perfect Heist, Recipes from Around the World , Sandia Report 2015, accessed April 24, 2019
- ↑ The perfect plan website of the Münchener Abendblatt from October 25, 2009, accessed on April 25, 2019
- ↑ Stockholm police mocked as "embarrassing" on the Spiegel-online website of September 24, 2009, accessed on April 25, 2019
- ↑ The whole of Sweden is laughing each other - police limp and embarrassing Internet site of ntv from September 24, 2009, accessed on April 24, 2019
- ↑ How Sweden's most spectacular robbery happened Spiegel online from September 24, 2009, accessed on April 22, 2019.
- ↑ Tricked like in the children's crime thriller website of the Standard from April 25, 2008, accessed on April 25, 2019
- ↑ Sweden was warned about helicopter robbery on the website of OE 24 on September 27, 2009, accessed on April 22, 2019
- ^ Helicopter robbery in Stockholm - One gangster, another gangster ... Website of the Süddeutsche Zeitung of September 28, 2009, accessed on April 24, 2019
- ↑ After helicopter coup pilot in custody on the website of the world on September 28, 2009, accessed on April 24, 2019
- ↑ De dömdes för helikopterrånet on the website (Swedish) of Expressen from October 8, 2010, accessed on April 24, 2019
- ↑ Regional court tightened prison sentences for helicopter robbery German website of Radio Sweden from February 16, 2011, accessed on April 24, 2019.
- ↑ How Sweden's most spectacular robbery happened Spiegel online from September 24, 2009, accessed on April 25, 2019
- ↑ Sweden's Push to Get Rid of Cash Has Some Saying, 'Not So Fast', New York Times website, November 21, 2018, accessed April 22, 2019
- ↑ A helicopter bank robbery helps explain why cash is dying in Sweden Quartz website from March 1, 2018, accessed on April 22, 2019.
- ↑ How Sweden's most spectacular robbery happened Spiegel online from September 24, 2009, accessed on April 25, 2019
- ^ The air number Süddeutsche Zeitung of August 10, 2010, accessed on April 25, 2019
- ↑ "The Helicopter Coup" by Jonas Bonnier on the WDR website of July 10, 2018, accessed on April 25, 2019
- ↑ Prison sentences for the helicopter robbers on the website of the Hamburger Abendblatt dated October 7, 2010, accessed on April 22, 2019
- ↑ Top 10 brazen heists on the Time Magazine website from November 4, 2011, accessed on April 22, 2019
- ↑ The Perfect Heist, Recipes from Around the World , Sandia Report 2015, accessed April 24, 2019
- ↑ Sweden bestseller on buchreport.de from May 30, 2018, accessed on April 25, 2019
- ↑ The Helicopter Coup on the Piper Verlag website, accessed on April 25, 2019
- ↑ "The Helicopter Coup" by Jonas Bonnier on the WDR website of July 10, 2018, accessed on April 25, 2019
- ↑ "Helicopter Heist": Directors of the great climbing documentary "Free Solo" shoot Netflix action thriller on the Filmstarts.de page on April 9, 2019, accessed on April 25, 2019