Skip to content
Big Maple Leaf coin

Four on trial over theft of huge gold coin from Berlin museum

Catherine Saunders-Watson
Catherine Saunders-Watson
Big Maple Leaf coin
Gold Maple Leaf, Vorderseite, copyright Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Munzkabinett; Photo: Reinhard Saczewski

BERLIN (AP) – Four young men have gone on trial over the brazen theft of a 100-kilogram (221-pound) Canadian gold coin from a Berlin museum.

The “Big Maple Leaf” coin, worth several million dollars, was stolen from the Bode Museum in March 2017.

Three men, identified only as Wissam R., Ahmed R. and Wayci R., are accused of stealing the coin during the night using a wheelbarrow to haul it away. The fourth suspect, Dennis W, worked as a guard at the museum for a private security firm and is accused of scouting out the scene.

German news agency dpa reported the four men, aged between 20 and 24 years, went on trial Thursday in Berlin district court.

Investigators believe that the suspects cut up the coin and sold the pieces.

#   #   #

Copyright 2019 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This information may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 

Big Maple Leaf coin