CEBU, Philippines - A pawnshop auditor lost a bundle of money worth P100,000 purportedly inside a public utility vehicle yesterday.
The victim, Wely Dino, 28, of Henry Lhuillier Jewelry & Pawnshop (H Lhuillier), reported the incident to Cebu City Theft and Robbery Section (TRS) around noon.
The victim first sought help from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) – 7 but was referred to TRS.
Dino said the money was probably stolen while he was onboard a public utility vehicle from the H Lhuillier branch in Barangay Guadalupe toward the Fuente Osmeña area around 11a.m.
Prior to that, he had come from the pawnshop’s branch at the Cebu Business Park to fetch the bundles of money, which were intended to be delivered to four other branches in Cebu City.
He said the lost bundle was worth P100,000 and was wrapped with white paper and placed inside a transparent plastic bag together with three other bundles.
He left one bundle at the Guadalupe branch.
He reportedly tucked the plastic bag under his left armpit while on board the jeepney.
Dino said he did not notice anything unusual inside the jeepney only that an elderly woman and a man were seated beside him. It was reportedly only when he arrived at the pawnshop’s branch at the Fuente Osmeña area when a colleague noticed a slit on the plastic bag.
Dino said that when he checked the bag, only two bundles of money were left.
PO1 Ramil Duyas, TRS investigator, said Dino was a victim of pickpocketing. Still, investigation is necessary to ascertain if Dino has indeed given the right information. Duyas said money of such amount should have been handled with extreme care.
“There was laxity in handling with the money,” Duyas said. (FREEMAN)