CROOKED security guards have walked off with a record of K6 million in a daring broad daylight robbery in Port Moresby.
The amount stolen eclipsed the K3 million that was stolen from the Kerema and Madang Bank South Pacific (BSP) robberies in 2008, orchestrated by notorious criminal William Kapris, who was shot dead by police in a manhunt in June this year.
The cash belonging to the Port Moresby-based May Bank was on its way to the Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG) for banking last Friday when G4S security guards allegedly held up their escort commander and drivers and commandeered the armored vehicle to Touaguba Hill, where they removed and escaped with the trunks of cash in a well-planned heist.
Speaking to the Post-Courier yesterday, NCD Metropolitan Commander Andy Bawa said G4S security personnel last Thursday went to their client May Bank and moved seven trunks of cash containing about K5.8 million to their base at Konedobu to lock it in their vault.
Last Friday at around 7.45 am they received a call from May Bank staff asking that their seven trunks of cash be moved to the BPNG for banking. At about 8.35 am the armored vehicle drove into the loading bay and instead of picking up seven trunks of cash, they picked up nine and drove out followed by their escort vehicle and headed for the central bank in downtown Port Moresby.
The seven trunks contained about K5.8 million while the extra two had K1.5 million.
According to Mr Bawa, a 15-seater bus pulled up between the armored vehicle and the escort vehicle when they were driving up Champion Parade.
In that instant a G4S security guard held-up his superior and disarmed him before directing the driver to follow a blue 5-door Toyota Land Cruiser to Hunter Street, through McGregor Street and then Portlock and Davetari Drive. Another blue Toyota land cruiser followed them when they got to Davetari Drive, where they stopped and unloaded eight trunks of cash and moved them to another waiting vehicle and fled. The other trunk had its seal broken and all its cash removed before the thieves locked up the driver, guard commander and a gunman in the vehicle cage and fled.
The three G4S employees, who were later rescued and taken to the Boroko police station for questioning, are now in police custody as investigations continue into the armed robbery.