Police look for charges vs thief

CEBU, Philippines – The police are now deliberating what charges will be filed against Ryan Aniceto who was arrested using a new method of stealing money from people withdrawing cash from automated teller machines (ATMs).

Chief Insp. George Ylanan, head of Investigation and Detective Management Branch of the Cebu City Police Office, said Aniceto’s case was the first to happen in Cebu.

A security guard of a supermarket caught Aniceto past 7 a.m. the other day in the act of putting a piece of plastic cellophane inside the cash dispenser of an ATM of UCPB.

Aniceto, 25, a native of Dasmariñas, Cavite, said that he has been conducting the modus in Cebu since last December.

Since May 1, he had reportedly taken more than P20,000 from the ATMs. He said he goes to Cebu every weekend to conduct his modus and return to Tanauan, Leyte where his pregnant wife resides.

Aniceto told reporters that during withdrawal, the cash would be stuck inside the machine because of the plastic cellophane he placed inside the cash dispenser of the ATM.

The suspect said that when the customer leaves without the money, he would remove the said paraphernalia and the cash would come out from the dispenser.

The suspect, who claimed to have learned the modus in Manila, also gave the police a list of different banks that he victimized.

Jimmy Martinez, manager of UCPB cash and clearance center, said that they had refunded a number of customers who complained of not receiving money during transaction with their ATM.

After noting that the machine was having problem inside the cash dispenser, they then conducted surveillance. Aniceto was caught on the day of the surveillance.

Martinez advised ATM users to check the machine first before withdrawing cash.

A charge for possessing illegal drugs will be filed against Aniceto after the small pack of suspected shabu was confiscated from him. — Niña G. Sumacot/LPM (THE FREEMAN)