Baden-Württemberg’s justice system put 22 items seized in criminal proceedings up for auction, among them sports cars, motorcycles and luxury watches.[1] The sale took place at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart on 24 October 2026.[2] The vehicles and watches had been seized or attached in criminal cases, the Amtsgericht Stuttgart said.[2] One Porsche had belonged to a convicted drug dealer and another came from a fraud case, according to investigators.[3] The owners of two Porsches and motorcycles had been sentenced in 2024 and 2025 to between two and eight years for trafficking narcotics, marijuana and cocaine, according to the same office.[1] The SWP reported that luxury watches came from the drug dealer and the Porsche from a fraudster.[4] Other items came from money-laundering, tax and fraud proceedings.[1]

The star lot was a Lamborghini Aventador Ultimae with an estimated value of up to €780,000.[2] It sold for €710,000.[5] A VW Polo with a €2,000 starting price went for €19,000.[5] Three Rolex watches sold for €12,000 to €18,000 each.[5] The 15 cars, three motorcycles and four watches raised €2.1 million in all.[6] That was above the more than €2 million Justice Minister Moritz Oppelt had expected.[1] Echt Stuttgart reported a total of more than €2.13 million.[5] Oppelt called it the largest justice auction Baden-Württemberg had ever seen.[1]

Some items were sold before their criminal proceedings ended, through a Notveräußerung, an emergency sale meant to avoid loss of value and high storage and upkeep costs.[3] The proceeds stay frozen for the duration of the criminal case and are returned if the owner is acquitted, the chief prosecutor’s office said.[1] If the owner is convicted, the money goes to the taxpayer, and tax debts are settled from it, the chief prosecutor’s office and Justice Minister Oppelt said.[1] The Stuttgart auction house Eppli ran the sale and reported interest from bidders in Switzerland, France, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.[1] Eppli charged a six-figure sum for its service.[1] The high-priced cars came from a case handled by the Taskforce Finanzkriminalität, founded in 2025.[6]