Cops find a match: Cardoza's fingerprints in Western Union rob

Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Branch chief Paul Labra yesterday said fingerprints taken from the scene of the recent robbery of Western Union branch on Ramos Street have matched that of Jemuel Cardoza, alias Roldan Villanueva.

This buttressed earlier suspicion of the police that Cardoza's group, formed after separating from the Rey Torres robbery group, was the one that robbed the money transfer outlet last Saturday and ran away with money of various currencies, estimated to reach P800,000.

Labra said they had requested the city jail for records of Cardoza fingerprints, which were then later compared to the fingerprints taken last Saturday at Western Union, and they found the two sets matched or were similar to each other.

This latest development may have jibed with the earlier findings that the bullets used in the recent spate of robberies in the city came from the same gun, which means that only one group could be responsible in those heists.

Ballistic examinations on the spent shells taken from the crime scenes showed that these were fired from the same gun.

Taking this theory that Cardoza's group has been responsible in these robberies, Labra surmised that the group may have found Western Union an easier target than others considering the enclosed and tinted booths, and only one security guard assigned per branch.

Labra said the Lapu-Lapu City Police Offfice already filed a robbery case against Cardoza group that was already tagged as the one that hit Western Union outlets in Lapu-lapu City and Mandaue City in the past.

Aside from Western Union outlets, the group might be responsible in the East-West Bank heist last September 26. The same group was also be the one that robbed a fish dealer at barangay Capitol Site last October 24.

The robbers that hit the Cebu People's Development Cooperative were still unidentified but Labra said he also suspected that it was Cardoza's group that did it. - Flor Z. Perolina