Cops say robbers lost money in Quezon City mall heist

MANILA, Philippines - The men who robbed an armored van at a mall parking area in Quezon City last Tuesday actually lost money they spent as “capital,” a police official said Friday.

Superintendent Gerardo Ratuita, head of the Quezon City Police District-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said the suspects spent at least P400,000 to stage the robbery but took away only less than P100,000.

He said the P400,000 represents the money spent by the suspects in buying a Toyota Revo that was used as a second getaway vehicle. The Toyota Revo was found Wednesday morning at a parking area in Marilao, Bulacan with emptied cash bags and a box and other items believed to have been used by the suspects.

It was believed that the suspects transferred to the Revo after abandoning the Ford Expedition they first used to leave WalterMart. 

Without a license plate, investigators used the Revo’s chassis number to trace its original owner to Calamba, Laguna.

“From there, we found out from the original owner that the vehicle had been sold to a second-hand car dealer,” Ratuita told reporters.

The police official said the car dealer was then approached by a man wanting to buy the Revo.

“The man bought the Revo for P400,000. He reportedly paid in cash and, claiming that he was in a hurry, he left even without the deed of sale,” Ratuita said, noting that the buyer never came back to get the deed of sale.

As for the loot, Ratuita said he believes the suspects took away less than P100,000. “If the cash consisted of only the day’s collections from a few stores, that wouldn’t reach P100,000,” he said.

According to Ratuita, they are trying to come up with a sketch of the man who bought the Revo from the car dealer.   – Reinir Padua