Bank messenger lands in jail for stealing $10,000

A bank messenger was jailed for stealing $10,000 (approximately P526,000) to pay for his son’s tuition.

Elmer Ardevela, 37, of 144 Kabulusan 2, Caloocan City, works as a messenger at the Equitable PCIBank branch in Tondo, Manila, according to Senior Inspector Leopoldo Mangilinan, chief of the Theft and Robbery Section of the Western Police District.

Ardevela was brought to police for investigation by employees and security personnel of the bank as the prime suspect in the loss of the bank’s $10,000.

Investigation conducted by detective Joey de Ocampo showed that on Monday afternoon, the bank’s accounts clerk was encoding the serial numbers of $24,000 in currency bills for transmittal to Singapore when a client came in.

The clerk said she was busy attending to the client when she noticed Ardevela had gone to her table where the dollar bills were stacked. She said she trusted Ardevela, who gets checks from her table to deliver to Equitable-PCIBank’s other branches.

When Ardevela left and she finished answering the client, the clerk said she went back, counted the currency bills on her table, and was shocked to find out that the money was short by $10,000. The clerk reported the loss to the bank manager and pointed to Ardevela as the probable suspect in the theft.

When Ardevela was confronted by the bank manager, he said he was innocent, prompting the bank manager to bring him to the police for investigation.

"The suspect was not able to stand the rigors of interrogation for three hours. He finally broke down and admitted stealing the money," Mangilinan told The STAR.

The suspect led policemen to his service motorcycle (TG-3372) parked inside the bank and showed them the $10,000 neatly tucked inside the vehicle’s tool box. Mangilinan and his men promptly returned the recovered money to the bank manager, who praised the police for their quick solution of the case.

"I was tempted to steal the money for my son’s tuition," a teary-eyed Ardevela said inside his detention cell.

City prosecutor Cielo Rubi Galicia charged Ardevela with qualified theft and recommended the amount of P40,000 for his bail. – Nestor Etolle