TRIAL IN THE THEFT OF THE $6-MILLION LOONIE OPENS.
BERLIN • Four young men went on trial in Germany on Thursday over the brazen theft of a 100-kilogram Canadian gold coin worth at least $6 million that disappeared from a Berlin museum two years ago.
Two brothers and their cousin, identified in German media as 24-year-old Wayci Remmo, 20-year-old Ahmed Remmo and 22-year-old Wissam Remmo, are accused of stealing the “Big Maple Leaf” — which looks like a giant loonie — from the Bode Museum in March 2017.
A fourth suspect, identified only as 20-year-old Dennis W., worked as a security guard at the museum, which is located in the heart of the German capital. He is accused of scouting out the scene of the crime.
Struck by the Royal Canadian Mint in 2007, the Big Maple Leaf coin was feted by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest coin. It’s also a marvel of Canadian goldsmithing, at an unprecedented purity of 99.999 per cent.
“Why did the Royal Canadian Mint make the world’s purest and largest gold bullion coin? Because we can,” wrote the Mint in a 2007 statement.
Although given a $1-million face value, at 100 kg of gold the coin’s current value would be at least $6 million.
The opening of the trial at Berlin’s district court drew intense media interest in Germany because of the Hollywood-style nature of the heist and their families’ alleged ties to organized crime.
Prosecutors believe that the Remmos smashed a protective case and then managed to lift the coin out of a museum window before fleeing along a rail track with their haul in a wheelbarrow. The carefully polished coin, already badly damaged by the heist, is suspected to have been cut up and its pieces sold.
The coin’s famous purity, meanwhile, was likely diluted by mixing pieces of the coin with copper.
The men’s lawyers have denied the accusations levelled against their clients and accused prosecutors of presenting no evidence linking them to the theft.
If convicted, the men could face up to 10 years in prison for serious theft, though the three youngest defendants may be sentenced as juveniles because they were under 21 at the time of the crime.
The Big Maple Leaf was created as a one-off by the Mint to promote a new line of one-ounce gold coins. However, international demand for a giant gold coin soon caused the Mint to commission others. The Bode Museum’s Big Maple Leaf was one of six around the world, with the original residing in Ottawa.