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The robbers took 9 million euros in cash in the city of Lyon, in southeastern France, in an armed attack on an armored security vehicle, prosecutors said.
The theft is believed to be the largest cash theft of its kind in France since notorious thief Toni Musulin seized € 11.6 million in 2009, most of which was subsequently recovered.
The vehicle was attacked around 9 in the morning, local time, by several armed individuals as it was leaving a branch of the Bank of France in Lyon.
No one was injured in the attack on the vehicle belonging to the Loomis security company “but the losses amount to 9 million euros,” prosecutors said.
“The perpetrators managed to flee immediately after committing the act.”
Local reports said that two vans blocked the armored vehicle, one in front and one behind.
The robbers threatened the driver, took the money and fled in two vehicles that were later found burned.
“It was a bold attack, right in the center of the city,” said Loomis CEO Michel Tresch.
“The most important thing is that the cash escorts are safe and sound,” he added.
All three employees are extremely shocked, Loomis unionist Kader Bengueche said, adding that they would see a psychologist on Monday.
According to two colleagues from the attacked security team, two men and a woman, there have been repeated problems with the locking system of the security vehicles.
While the security code is supposed to be changed for each race, the attacked vehicle had a “permanent code” that saved thieves time, added colleagues who asked not to be identified.
“It is evident that there is a fault on the part of the company,” said one, noting that the driver of the attacked vehicle was a former shooting instructor trained in “defensive driving.”
Police and regional specialists quickly opened an investigation.
The Swedish cash handling company Loomis has come under attack several times over the years.
In May 2017, assets worth 35 million euros (cash, diamonds and gold bars) were stolen from one of its vehicles in Switzerland.
And in December 2016, thieves stole 70 kilos of gold dust worth 2.5 million euros from the same company near Lyon.
In March this year, another notorious French thief, Redoine Faid, was sentenced on appeal to 28 years in prison for an explosive attack on a Loomis pickup truck in the northern city of Calais in 2011.
But Loomis CEO Tresch said that compared to the 2000s, there are now fewer physical attacks.
“It is much easier to carry out attacks (on the Internet) by hackers, rather than by attacking an armored vehicle,” Tresch said.
“It is not the same exhibition.”
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