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Monday, March 22, 2010

UPDATE: German Police Arrest Poker Tournament Heist Suspect

German police have arrested a man they suspect of being the mastermind of an armed raid on a poker tournament in Berlin.

As we reported to you earlier this month, the heavily-armed gang made off with the poker tournament jackpot of 242,000 euros ($327,000; £217,000) from the Grand Hyatt in Berlin.

Police said a 28-year-old Lebanese man, the fourth arrested in connection with the raid, had been detained on Sunday. In a statement, authorities described the man as "the brains behind the operation".

"According to the current state of our investigation, the suspect is thought to have been the organizer.... He also drove the getaway car," a black Mercedes-Benz, Berlin police said in a statement.

Two other suspects were arrested earlier this week and a third on Saturday morning at Berlin's Tegel airport, the Associated Press news agency reports.

On 6 March, the gang of four - reportedly carrying handguns - burst into Berlin's Hyatt hotel in the city's Potsdamer Platz.

To the shock of the poker players taking part in the tournament, they made off with the jackpot in bags of cash, whose initial sum was reported to be far higher.

AP; Spiegel.

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