Final poker heist suspect nabbed

2010-03-21 19:04

Berlin - All four suspects in a heist on a high-stakes German poker tournament that netted thieves nearly a quarter of a million euros were behind bars on Saturday after police said they made two more arrests.

The 19- and 20-year-old pair were detained separately around 12:00 and late on Saturday at Berlin's main Tegel airport after telling their lawyers they were ready to turn themselves in.

The March 6 tournament, the German leg of the European Poker Tour, attracted around 950 participants including German tennis legend Boris Becker with €4.7m in prize money up for grabs.

A 21-year-old German national had turned himself in on Monday naming his three accomplices - a German, a Turk and a third man whose nationality was not immediately clear. A 20-year-old suspect was then arrested on Wednesday.

In a spectacular daylight robbery likened by some media to the Hollywood blockbuster Ocean's 11, the masked gang of four burst into the hotel near Berlin's central Potsdamer Platz wielding machetes and handguns.

In chaotic scenes captured on television, they snatched bags of cash, struggled with security guards, one of whom managed to recover a bag, and sped away in a black Mercedes-Benz.

The game continued after the raid, with the €1m top prize eventually won by American online poker star Kevin 'ImaLuckSac' MacPhee.

- SAPA