Four men have had to answer to the Offenburg district court since Friday for the alleged theft of more than 20,000 mobile phones worth around 3.75 million euros from a company warehouse. According to the court, the public prosecutor accuses the accused, aged between 36 and 42, of serious gang theft in 16 cases.

The prosecution alleges that the men stole and sold mobile phones from a company's warehouse in Offenburg between December 2016 and October 2018. Two defendants are said to have been employed by the damaged company in Ortenau. One of them is accused of having manipulated a product program via adjustment postings. The shortages should therefore only be noticed later during an inventory.

The accused are reportedly at large. The process is initially planned with five further appointments until mid-November.