Inside job ruled out in Lhuillier robbery

The National Bureau of Investigation has ruled out the possibility of an inside angle in the armed robbery of a van at the foot of the Mactan-Mandaue bridge several weeks ago by five robbers who took an estimated P1 million worth of jewelry from the Cebuana Lhuillier employees who had just arrived from Davao City.

The NBI team of investigators led by agent Reynaldo Villordon found no evidence or leads indicating connivance on the part of the employees.

Villordon said there were about 12 employees of Cebuana Lhuillier in Davao City who were subjected to a lie-detector test but all of them passed.  Before flying to Davao to investigate, Villordon and his team also subjected the Cebu branch employees to a polygraph test and none were found positive.

Villordon, however, said they already have new leads in the case but refused to reveal them so as not to jeopardize their ongoing investigation.  He likewise believed that the items “left” behind by the robbers in Sibonga town were meant to mislead the investigators.

The five armed men were wearing police and military uniforms when they waylaid the Toyota Revo boarded by the pawnshop employees.

Later, some of the jewelry and personnel belongings of the employees were recovered by pursuing policemen in Sibonga.   — Fred P. Languido/BRP