A 27-year-old Georgian national has been arrested in Belgium in connection with a bank robbery in central Antwerp on February 3.
The robbery took place in the safe-deposit room of the branch of BNP Paribas Fortis on the Belgiëlei, while the branch was closed. The thieves had clearly been planning the robbery well in advance.
The approach to the bank involved entering the sewers via a manhole, digging a tunnel underground equipped with wooden supports and electric lighting, then coming through a wall into the safe-deposit room where clients rent boxes to store their valuables and documents for safe-keeping. They escaped through another tunnel to an apartment in a nearby street, rented for the purpose.
The man arrested yesterday is said to be a Georgian by origin with Belgian nationality. He will appear in court on Friday, the Brussels Times reported.
