Rob gang has insiders in banks, firms

Remaining members of the Kuratong Baleleng robbery and kidnap gang, who were arrested in Pasay City Saturday, have admitted that they have “insiders” help them pull off bank and payroll robberies in Metro Manila and other parts of the country, the police said yesterday.

Metro Manila police chief Director Geary Barias said suspects Pascual Mata, George Avila and Roy Fernandez said their insiders were either active or inactive security guards, or employees such as checkers and errand boys who know the day-to-day financial transactions of targeted banks and companies.

As the alleged leader of the group, Fernandez receives the lion’s share of the loot, according to Barias.

“The other gang members, including the insider, receives equal shares of the loot, which always runs into millions of pesos,” he said.

Fernandez, Avila and Mata were arrested minutes after they engaged police officers in a shootout near Cartimar market in Pasay City. Another gang member, Albert Almedilla, was killed in the firefight.

Barias credited Fernandez’s gang with more than 20 robberies and kidnappings in Metro Manila, Cavite, Cebu, Pampanga and Pangasinan.

According to Senior Superintendent Edgardo Danao, the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) intelligence chief, the four suspects were on their way to rob a Maynilad Water Service Inc. branch in Pasay when his men intercepted them.

Danao said a certain Ralph tipped off the gang that the Maynilad branch was about to transport P12 million to P15 million, representing its collection for the month.

He said they are waiting for the affidavits of Maynilad officials to include Ralph in the robbery charges they will file against Mata, Avila and Fernandez.

“This would be the first time that we will include a gang’s tipster in the filing of charges,” Danao said.

He added that the robbery gang would recruit an insider, usually from Ozamis City or the Surigao provinces, and promise them an equal share of the loot.

“Once they talk in their native dialect, the insider would then reveal vital information which would make it easy for the gang to rob the target banks and firms,” Danao told The STAR.

A gang member would later deliver the share of the loot to the insider to ensure the latter’s full cooperation in another robbery, the police said.