'Pasig payroll rob an inside job’

The Dec. 6 payroll robbery in Pasig City, where suspects carted away P250,000 in employees’ salaries, was an "inside job," the city’s police chief said yesterday.

This, Superintendent John Sosito revealed, following the arrest of two workers of Nessin Union Industrial Corp. driver Don Chua, 26, and mechanic Felipe Agustino, 33.

Chua is a nephew of one of the three owners of the firm, 59-year-old Rodolfo Chua.

The young Chua and Agustino admitted their role during tactical interrogation. They yielded P80,000, their share of the loot.

"They made it appear that they were robbed but gave glaring inconsistencies on how the incident happened," Sosito said, adding he suspected all along that it was really an inside job.

Chua and Agustino reported to Senior Superintendent Simeon Dizon Jr., director of the Eastern Police District, that they were divested of payroll money they had withdrawn from a bank.

Chua was driving the Nissan Sentra service vehicle, and on their way back to the office, he accidentally bumped a pedestrian along C. Raymundo street, some 50 meters away from the bank.

According to him, he rushed out to aid the victim, who suddenly stood up and asked that he be taken to a nearby hospital.

However, he said, the victim suddenly pulled out a hand grenade on the way to the hospital and threatened to pull the pin if Agustino refused to hand over the money. Taking the money, the alleged robber alighted near the Orchids motel in Barangay Ilog.

Sosito revealed he noticed many glaring discrepancies in the narration of events by Chua and Agustino.

At the height of the questioning, the two broke down and confessed they and 37-year-old Sofronio Sailog, who pretended to be the accident victim and who had just been released from the Iwahig Penal Colon after being jailed for robbery, concocted the story.

The young Chua said Sailog convinced him to rob his uncle during a drinking spree weeks ago at Agustino’s house in Taytay, Rizal.

Chua and Agustino said that after reporting the incident to the police, they proceeded to Sta, Mesa, Manila where Sailog gave them their share of the loot. – Non Alquitran