Antonio Ferrara sentenced to 13 years over foiled Bochum cash depot raid

The verdict

On Thursday, 5 November 2026, a court in Brussels convicted Antonio Ferrara, a 53-year-old career criminal from France, over a planned raid on a cash depot in Bochum, Germany. The tribunal sentenced him to 13 years in prison, while the nine co-defendants received terms of between 7 and 13 years. Prosecutors had asked for 18 years for Ferrara himself. His brother, one of the co-defendants, received nine years. The court described the operation as organised and held that the robbery plan had genuinely been put into motion, rejecting claims by several defendants that the group had withdrawn voluntarily. Four of the defendants, Ferrara among them, were found to be repeat offenders.

Prosecution request18

Court sentence13

Prosecution request

18 years

Court sentence

13 years

Data from the article text

The plan and the police operation

French police learned in November 2024 that several figures from organised crime were preparing a job. Belgium's federal judicial police opened a parallel inquiry after hearing of a similar project in Belgium. When it emerged that both groups were working together, a joint investigation team was set up between Belgian and French authorities, and Germany joined once investigators established that the target was in Germany. Investigators observed the suspects near the Bochum site from 15 December 2024 at the latest, using direct listening in vehicles, GPS trackers and surveillance. The target was a cash depot where banks store banknotes, jewellery and gold. The gang planned to strike on the night of 26 to 27 February 2025.

Arrest, weapons and the attempted-murder charge

The convoy left Belgium, but on approach to Bochum the gang saw many police vehicles with blue lights and turned back toward its base, an Airbnb in Eupen about two hours' drive from Bochum. Special units of the federal police were waiting there. Reports say around 80 members of the federal judicial police and around 70 officers of the special units were ready to act with German and French colleagues. The arrest was violent, several special unit vehicles were damaged, and one suspect deliberately drove at police officers, injuring one of them. The court convicted the driver of one of the four vehicles used by the gang of attempted murder and sentenced him to 12 years, the only defendant charged with that offence. Searches of the stolen vehicles turned up seven war weapons, 511 rounds of ammunition, four grenades, six bulletproof vests and nearly 500 grams of explosives, along with police and customs uniforms. The court described the group as a serious danger to the public.

Defence and Ferrara's record

Ferrara had already been convicted in France for robberies and attempted murder and had twice escaped from prison in spectacular fashion, earning him the nickname 'roi de la belle'. He was released in 2022 after 12 years in detention. According to VRT NWS, the then French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy had once publicly named him an enemy of the state. During the trial Ferrara denied the charges, and his lawyer argued that the DNA analysis was unreliable. The court rejected that argument, finding no reason to doubt the investigators' findings and describing Ferrara's statements as inconsistent and lacking credibility. In court, Ferrara said:

“They are using my criminal record to hand me the heaviest sentence possible.”

French prosecutor Laure Beccuau later commented on the group's members:

“They were individuals whom neither laws nor weapons can stop.”