Daniela Klette, 67, a former member of the German far-left militant group Red Army Faction (RAF), was sentenced on May 27, 2026, to 13 years in prison by a court in Verden, Lower Saxony [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. The trial was held under tight security in a converted indoor equestrian arena, rented at a cost of over €3.6 million [1, 4, 5].
Klette was convicted on six counts of particularly serious or aggravated armed robbery committed from 1999 to 2016. These robberies, which targeted cash transport vehicles and supermarkets across three German states, were carried out with accomplices Burkhard Garweg and Ernst-Volker Staub, who remain at large [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. The total stolen amount is estimated between €2 million and €2.4 million [1, 2, 4, 5, 6].
Authorities said Klette acted as the getaway driver and played a key role in these crimes. She was also charged with kidnapping for ransom, extortion, and arms violations [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. At her arrest in February 2024 in a Berlin apartment where she lived under a false identity for more than 30 years, police found forged documents, wigs, gold, €240,000 in cash, and a realistic dummy bazooka [2, 4, 6].
The presiding judge Lars Engelke said the defendants "carried out their robberies with a division of labour and in a highly conspiratorial manner" [2]. Prosecutors also accused Klette of politically motivated attacks in the early 1990s, including an attempted bombing of Deutsche Bank and an attack on the U.S. embassy, but those charges are being handled separately [1, 2, 4, 5].
Klette denied wrongdoing related to the robberies and described the trial as politically motivated. She reaffirmed her commitment saying, "I vow to stay true to the fight against capitalism and the patriarchy" [2].
The investigation was aided by an anonymous informant who received a reward of about €25,564 for key information that led to Klette’s arrest [4, 5].
The trial began in March 2025 and concluded with sentencing on May 27, 2026 [2, 4, 5].
