Guards rob bank of sh700m
Feb 08, 2005
Three guards on Monday stole sh700m belonging to Stanbic Bank.<br>A bullion van in which they were transporting the money from Mbale to Iganga was found abandoned at Agururu village, about one kilometre on Tororo-Nagongera road.
By Nathan Etengu
Three guards on Monday stole sh700m belonging to Stanbic Bank.
A bullion van in which they were transporting the money from Mbale to Iganga was found abandoned at Agururu village, about one kilometre on Tororo-Nagongera road.
The guards, from Securicor Gray, a private firm contracted by Stanbic to offer security services and oversee the transportation of cash, abandoned their uniforms, head gear and bulletproof jackets in the van. They, however, took with them the remote control key that opens the van safe.
Regional Police commander Bob Ngobi and Stanbic executive director in charge retail banking, Jacques Troost, named the suspects as Patrick Mugisha, the driver, Ogola, the convoy commander, and Oswama.
Ngobi said six suspects one of them a brother and girlfriend of one of the suspects, had been arrested.
Troost declined to give details and referred The New Vision to Securicor Gray.
A delivery note recovered from the vehicle indicated
that sh700m was taken. The money was in denominations of sh50,000, sh20,000 and sh10,000. The Police have the note.
Ngobi said three guards who were in the back-up vehicle had also been arrested. “They claimed that they lost touch with the bullion van as it headed for Iganga,†he said.
“The cash was stashed in three bags. The first delivery was made in Pallisa before the vehicle proceeded towards Iganga on the second leg of its mission,†said Ngobi. He said the theft occurred at around 1:30pm and that the vehicle was recovered at about 5.00pm.
“It must have been planned. They were able to get clothes to change and even buy bags in which they packed the money,†Ngobi said. He said handbag labels were recovered from the van.
Ngobi said a brother of one of the suspects was arrested after a tip-off that he got a special hire taxi to deliver sh400,000 to a girlfriend of one of the suspects. The special hire driver was also arrested.
A robber stormed dfcu Bank in Arua last November and attempted to grab cash but was disarmed by a guard.
In the same month, Ugandan suspects were arrested in Congo for the robbery of $6m from a bank and another two were wanted for sh10b robbery from a Tanzanian bank in the same month.
Three guards on Monday stole sh700m belonging to Stanbic Bank.
A bullion van in which they were transporting the money from Mbale to Iganga was found abandoned at Agururu village, about one kilometre on Tororo-Nagongera road.
The guards, from Securicor Gray, a private firm contracted by Stanbic to offer security services and oversee the transportation of cash, abandoned their uniforms, head gear and bulletproof jackets in the van. They, however, took with them the remote control key that opens the van safe.
Regional Police commander Bob Ngobi and Stanbic executive director in charge retail banking, Jacques Troost, named the suspects as Patrick Mugisha, the driver, Ogola, the convoy commander, and Oswama.
Ngobi said six suspects one of them a brother and girlfriend of one of the suspects, had been arrested.
Troost declined to give details and referred The New Vision to Securicor Gray.
A delivery note recovered from the vehicle indicated
that sh700m was taken. The money was in denominations of sh50,000, sh20,000 and sh10,000. The Police have the note.
Ngobi said three guards who were in the back-up vehicle had also been arrested. “They claimed that they lost touch with the bullion van as it headed for Iganga,†he said.
“The cash was stashed in three bags. The first delivery was made in Pallisa before the vehicle proceeded towards Iganga on the second leg of its mission,†said Ngobi. He said the theft occurred at around 1:30pm and that the vehicle was recovered at about 5.00pm.
“It must have been planned. They were able to get clothes to change and even buy bags in which they packed the money,†Ngobi said. He said handbag labels were recovered from the van.
Ngobi said a brother of one of the suspects was arrested after a tip-off that he got a special hire taxi to deliver sh400,000 to a girlfriend of one of the suspects. The special hire driver was also arrested.
A robber stormed dfcu Bank in Arua last November and attempted to grab cash but was disarmed by a guard.
In the same month, Ugandan suspects were arrested in Congo for the robbery of $6m from a bank and another two were wanted for sh10b robbery from a Tanzanian bank in the same month.