The suspect, 49, was detained on June 28, criminal police of Wiesbaden, a city in southwestern Germany, said on Monday. The man is believed to head the group that committed a brutal theft in Vilnius in October 2008, running off with a collection of icons estimated at 15 million euros.
Gintaras Jasaitis, a prosecutor in charge of organized crime and corruption at the Lithuanian Prosecutor General's Office, confirmed to BNS that the detained individual was Raimondas Aukštuolis listed as part of Vilnius-based zeliony gang.
"A European arrest warrant has been issued for the detained man, we are awaiting his extradition to Lithuania," Jasaitis told BNS.
Three more individuals were detained last Friday, but they are not linked with the criminal world. They attempted to sell the stolen icons. The theft victim reported about 200 icons stolen.
"Nearly five years after the crime, the criminals made an attempt sell the icons. They had to sell them in Lithuania and pay the money in Germany. Raimondas Aukštuolis was detained when he attempted to collect the money," Jasaitis told BNS. After receiving the cash in Germany, Aukštuolis was to call his accomplices to confirm receipt of the money and sanction handover of the religious paintings.
Aukštuolis was not directly involved in the robbery, but he faces suspicions for attempting to sell items that are known to be stolen and for owning handguns which were discovered during a search in his home.
According to media reports, the detention is a result of thorough operational action of Lithuanian police and investigators of the German land of Hessen.
The suspect aimed to sell the valuable icons in Frankfurt. After the detention, Lithuanian officials may receive a large portion of the stolen items (estimated at about 3 million euros), German media has said.
The arrest in Germany is linked with a brutal robbery performed in a Vilnius home of a wealthy family five years ago.
Armed with handguns, a group of men broke into the home of one of Lithuania's wealthiest collectors Andrejus Balykas, kidnapping his elder son. Balykas was on a trip to Paris at the time.
The gang took off with icons, more than 100,000 euros in cash, silver antiques, Beretta 84F gun sanctioned for self-defense, watches and all of the golden, silver and pearl jewellery owned by the collector's wife.
The suspects were detained in January 2010.
On June 20, 2011, a Vilnius court opened hearings into the robbery case. Ten individuals were charged with stealing valuable items and munitions, fraud.
The police said the criminal gang was highly professional and was operated in large territories. Searches revealed some of the stolen valuable items in Lithuania and abroad. Some of them were well-hidden, others had already been sold. The men on trial had criminal past and earlier convictions.
The case is currently pending at a Panevėžys court. The prosecutor, Jasaitis, told BNS that a judge released five main suspects in spring. Afterwards, a number of hearings were put off due to illnesses reported by the released suspects.
The hearings are due to resume in September.
