On the morning of June 27, 1995, a white Volkswagen van pulled up to the Commerzbank branch in the Berlin suburb of Zehlendorf.

Four men in masks and black tracksuits ran out of the bus. They tied up seven bank employees and nine visitors. One of the criminals called the bank director and demanded to contact the police.

The drivers of the garbage truck and the truck put the cars across the narrow street, some of the passers-by punctured the tires of the bandit car. Thus, the criminals' car was blocked in the narrow alley.

At 10:45 the police arrived, and after another 15 minutes the entire street was filled with police cars. The criminals demanded three million marks from the authorities, as well as a car and a helicopter.

Among the visitors was a woman suffering from diabetes. Suddenly she became ill. For her release, the criminals demanded another 2.6 million marks. And the authorities agreed to this offer.

At seven o'clock in the evening, the 5.6 million marks were collected, the police called the bank director. However, the bank director said: the robbers demanded another 12 million marks. If the money was not brought, they would send one of the visitors to the next world.

Someone suggested: the bandits are waiting for darkness to leave with the money -- the area around the bank was blocked by armored personnel carriers.

At 9:30 p.m., the bank manager called again and said that the robbers were demanding the 5.6 million marks they had already collected earlier. One of the policemen, stripped down to his underwear, went to the door of the bank and gave the money to the manager. After that, the lights went out and the phone in the bank went silent.

Three hours later, another 12 million marks were collected, but no one was in touch. The authorities decided to storm the bank. When the special forces stormed the bank, they saw 8 visitors and 7 bank employees with bags of bank money thrown over their heads. All were alive and well.

The robbers themselves left through an underground passage dug in advance, taking with them 5.6 million marks issued by the authorities, 4 million marks belonging to the bank, and the contents of 200 safety deposit boxes. The criminals dumped soda bottles, clothes and tools in the tunnel.

As it turned out later, the robbers began preparing for this crime a year and a half before the robbery. They rented a garage located 200 meters from the bank, dug 50 meters to the storm water pipe. This greatly reduced the time it took to build the tunnel. From the storm water pipe to the bank, the criminals dug another 30-meter tunnel that ended under one of Commerzbank's offices.

The police interviewed the owner of the garage. According to him, the artist drew portraits of the three men who came to the garage most often.

One of the owners of a store next to the bank reported to the authorities that the asphalt in front of his store had sagged, but no one reacted to the report.

Two weeks after the robbery, the bank set up a reward of DM 0.5 million for help in catching the criminals. Only then did the police received a huge number of calls. One of the callers pointed out the involvement of Mohammed Alkarmi, a Syrian immigrant, in the crime.

Alkarmi was arrested, and after 3.5 hours of interrogation, he admitted that he had helped dig the tunnel but was not involved in the robbery. As part of his agreement with the police, he gave the name of gang leader Khalid Albaraz, an unemployed radiologist.

A few days after Alkarmi's confession, undercover agents tracked down Khalid and his brothers, Muzaffer and Mutaz. The other two suspects were taken into custody the next day. However, the police needed evidence to link them to the bank robberies.

As it turned out, money amounting to DM 3.6 million was stored in the attic of a Syrian dentist. In addition, 1.4 million marks were in his account.

On September 16, 1996, the members of the robbery gang were tried. Alkarmi received six years in prison, Khalid Albarazi received 13 years, and the rest of the gang received sentences ranging from three to eight years. The police never recovered all the money stolen from the bank.

The criminals have been on the loose for a long time. Did the looted money wait for them? Or did they trust the people who disappeared with the money?