Costs us 39,000 euros

ATM bomber wants to be imprisoned in his home country—but can’t

Geert B. (stock photo) is being held in an Austrian prison, even though he was promised he would be allowed to serve his sentence in his home country.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Martin Jöchl)

Following a heist, a Dutch national has been in Austrian custody for 212 days—even though he was promised he would be allowed to return to his home country. Meanwhile, the government has introduced a bill: “Detention in the home country” combined with deportation is set to become standard practice for certain countries of origin in the future. 

It was a deafening crash that, around 3:15 a.m. on the night of March 6, 2025, in the Eggenberg district of Graz, presumably jolted hundreds of people from their sleep. The notorious ATM-blasting gang had struck on Eggenberger Allee. Debris from the ATMs was scattered far and wide; dyed bills worth hundreds of thousands of euros lay scattered on the ground, and more than 200,000 euros were missing. The money had ended up in the pockets of a group of Dutch criminals. On December 2, 2025, a trio was apprehended in their home country and extradited to Austria on February 26, 2026.

In March 2025, B. was involved in a heist in Graz. Because he showed remorse and confessed, his extradition was approved (see excerpt).(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Jürgen Radspieler)

Dutchman Pleaded Guilty and Showed Remorse
One of them—we’ll call him Geert B. (name changed)—has now been in Austrian prisons for 212 days. First in Vienna’s Josefstadt district, and more recently in St. Pölten (Lower Austria). B. was definitively sentenced to two and a half years. According to the verdict obtained by the “Krone” and statements made by the 27-year-old Dutchman himself, he was fully cooperative and remorseful. 

Geert B. (file photo) is currently in custody in Austria. He had been promised that he would be allowed to serve his sentence in his home country.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Martin Jöchl)

I had financial problems and wanted to solve them on my own. I didn’t receive any money directly—but my debts were written off.

Geert B. (Name geändert) über seinen Anwalt zur „Krone“

“I had financial problems and wanted to solve them”
He wasn’t even present during the ATM bombing itself—he is said to have rented vehicles and driven the bombers to the scene. “I just knew the wrong people,” the inmate tells his attorney, Georg Royer. He adds: “I had financial problems and wanted to solve them on my own. I didn’t receive any money directly—but my debts were written off.”

Family reasons for the request for detention in his home country
Geert B. and his attorney immediately accepted the verdict—which also includes insurance claims totaling 500,000 euros. According to Royer, what mattered most to his client was being transferred back to his home country to serve the remainder of his sentence. And for good reason: While in pretrial detention in Vienna, B. became a father for the first time. They requested a speedy trial and received a written guarantee from the state (which the “Krone” also has on file) that the convicted man must be transferred to his home country if he so desired.

Austria has guaranteed that my client can return to his family quickly. For reasons that are difficult to understand, the Ministry of Justice is not fulfilling this obligation.

Jurist Georg Royer vertritt den Niederländer

Bild: dfm

Despite the government’s current lip service about pushing for “incarceration in one’s home country” in the future, it remains unclear to this day—according to Georg Royer in an interview with the “Krone”—whether and when the 27-year-old will actually be allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence in his home country. Requests from the lawyer have yielded just as little clarity on this matter as inquiries from the “Krone” regarding the rationale for not granting extradition.

Taxpayers have already footed the bill for 39,000 euros
After all, the cost of one day of incarceration in Austria is 182 euros per person (as of 2025). In total, Geert B.’s incarceration to date has cost taxpayers just under 39,000 euros. In St. Pölten, officials would likely be just as happy to “get rid of” at least one inmate. In the capital of Lower Austria, cells are currently significantly overcrowded at 106.99 percent (as of September 1).