By Bernhard Schilz and Thomas Fischer
Now the rule of law is being presented with the Remmo bill – and one thing is certain: the clan criminals are costing us a fortune again!
The jewel coup in the Green Vault in November 2019 – members of the Arab-born Remmo clan had plundered the Dresden treasury and stole the crown jewels from Saxony’s ruler Augustus the Strong (1670-1733).
After their arrest in Berlin, the judiciary made an unspeakable deal with the criminals – for the return of the remaining loot (completely battered), the clan members received short prison sentences in May 2023 at the Dresden district court.
BILD explains what we – the rule of law and the taxpayer – still have to pay for. One thing is certain: the Remmos cost us already as much as the stolen giant diamond (Saxon White, 50 carats, about half a million euros).
Enormous costs for mandatory defense
The six accused members of the Remmo clan were assigned twelve public defenders for the trial. This is due to the scope of the proceedings and the amount of the penalty to be expected. The assets of the accused played no role in this.
Andreas Feron (61), spokesman for the Dresden Regional Court, told BILD: “A fee of around EUR 1,000 is incurred per lawyer and day of the session, plus travel expenses and, if necessary, hotel accommodation. You can count on around 15,000 euros per meeting day.”
Means: With 47 negotiation days, it does 705,000 euros – payable from the Saxon state justice fund – i.e. tax money.
Million shock in damages
For cost reasons, the robbed Free State wanted to negotiate the damages (stolen jewels, burglary damage to the castle) in the criminal proceedings. Lawyers call the adhesion process. Advantage: Saxony wanted to save itself the expensive civil lawsuit against the clan members.
But then the unbelievable happened: Remmo judge Andreas Ziegel (62) had only basically awarded compensation in his judgment in Saxony, determining the amount of the damage was rejected as too costly. The result: the court imposed the court costs on the Free State. Insiders see this as a serious glitch by the court.
Because that means: The twelve public defenders could now due to the high claim for damages (the Free State wanted 113.8 million euros; insurance value) again up to 2.42 million euros claim attorney fees. As BILD learned from legal circles, a first Remmo lawyer already has one Partial invoice of over 100,000 eurossubmitted.
There is sheer horror in Saxony’s state government. As BILD learned, they wanted to take action against every invoice – exhausting all legal remedies. With twelve lawyers, a large number of proceedings are threatened. In the end, the taxpayer will have to pay for it.
High civil lawsuit costs
Since the Remmo judge was unable to quantify the damage using experts, the Free State of Saxony had to file a civil lawsuit. He still has three years to do it.
According to BILD information, the claim should amount to EUR 88.9 million – the majority for missing jewels (damage EUR 63.3 million) and destroyed pieces of jewelery (EUR 25.5 million). Around 316,000 euros are estimated for damage to the lock and showcase.
But the Free State has to hire lawyers and pay them first. The costs for this are calculated according to the value in dispute. As BILD learned, one counts Cost around 250,000 euros – must be interpreted by the taxpayer.
An insider to BILD: “Actually, this expensive lawsuit is not worth it, the clan members are considered penniless on paper. But the state has to sue in order not to lose face. But we don’t see a single cent from them.”
The Remmos are getting really expensive again
Instead of receiving compensation, the taxpayer has to pay more: How high the final bill will be, however, cannot yet be foreseen. If you only take into account the known expenses for the twelve public defenders (705,000 euros), the impending legal fees in the adhesion proceedings (2.4 million euros) and the expected legal fees from the civil action (250,000 euros), the total comes to around 3.3 million euros!