Bank officials vow to curb robberies of clients

The National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) has secured the commitment of bank and security officials for the conduct of background investigation on their security guards and employees to curb the rising number of robberies against bank clients.

The NCRPO noted the increasing cases of robberies against bank clients who have just withdrawn large amounts of cash and strongly suspect that in most cases, “insiders” tipped off the robbers.

NCRPO chief Director Geary Barias met with members of the Bank Management and Security Association, headed by Erwin Ermita, in Fort Bonifacio last Thursday to come up with a uniform strategy in combating the problem.

“Initially, the group of Mr. Ermita assured us of their full cooperation in our investigation of such incidents,” said Barias, noting that the bank and security officials vowed to enforce a “total ban” on cell phone use inside their establishments.

Barias said he has no records of the number of bank clients robbed after withdrawing large amount of money from banks in Metro Manila.

The STAR learned from sources that the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) is investigating seven such cases, the Eastern Police District (EPD) has four and there is a in which robbers held up a Manila police official.

To erase suspicions that “insiders” are tipping off robbers, Ermita’s group vowed to conduct a thorough background investigation against not only their security guards but also their employees. Barias said Ermita’s group also promised not to hire employees and security guards with derogatory records.

The NCRPO director warned earlier that bank robbers have shifted to robbing bank clients, who are found to be easy prey because they are mostly unescorted and unarmed.

In majority of the robberies with bank clients as victims, the suspects were mostly riding in tandem on motorcycles, and in some cases have cohorts in luxury vehicles behind them as backup.

Barias ordered his five district directors to institute measures, such as erecting checkpoints to flag down and inspect motorcyclists, to completely stop the robberies. – Non Alquitran