Ten face charges over audacious helicopter heist in Sweden

SWEDISH prosecutors have charged ten men with robbery for stealing 39 million Swedish kronor (£3.4m) from a Stockholm cash depot last year in a helicopter heist.

Prosecutor Leif Gorts yesterday said five men were charged with aggravated robbery and five with complicity, in one of the largest police investigations in Swedish history.

Police say three masked gunmen last September dropped onto the roof of a Stockholm cash depot from a helicopter, broke into the building through a roof window, and set off explosions inside before hoisting themselves and their haul back up on rope lines.

They say they have recovered some of the cash, but that most remains missing and at least two unidentified suspects remain at large.

If found guilty, the men face prison terms of up to ten years. Nine of the suspects are Swedes and one is Syrian. All the men, aged between 23 and 38, have denied the charges.

Mr Gorts said Swedish police were tipped off already in August by police in Serbia that robbers planned a heist with a helicopter and expected to steal €10m (8.4m). He said the robbers had failed to recruit a helicopter pilot in Serbia, before finding another pilot in Sweden.

Mr Gorts said police started an investigation to prevent the robbery, but did not manage to find out where or when the heist would take place.

Another prosecutor, Bjorn Frithiof, said the massive investigation into the robbery included wiretapping, DNA analysis, and IT forensics.

The trial starts on 2 August.