Guards lying about bank break-in – probers

MANILA, Philippines - Three security guards of the Development Bank of the Philippines in Muntinlupa City will be subjected to deeper investigation after a lie detector test indicated there had been “deception” in their answers, an official said yesterday.

City police chief Senior Supt. Conrad Capa identified the three as Arnel Ramos, Jose Darwin Ignes, and Eleuterio Soria Jr. 

“We have detected deception in their answers. The three are now our persons of interest and will be the focus of our investigation,” he told The STAR.

Capa earlier ruled that the break-in in DBP, which was discovered on Oct. 29, was an inside job.

“I am declaring this an inside job because the (pieces of) evidence gathered at scene run counter to the guards’ claim the robber entered and escaped through a toilet window,” he said in an interview.

The guards said the restroom, located at the back of the bank, was the burglars’ point of entry and exit because its window grills had been sawn off. But based on bolt cutter marks left on the grills, the metal had been cut from inside of the bank.

Investigators noted that the burglars knew where the bank alarm and surveillance cameras were located. During the burglary, they cut all the cables connected to the alarm and covered all four closed-circuit television cameras with rags. They also took with them the central processing unit (CPU) of the computer where the footage is stored. 

During the crime reenactment, however, similar CPU models did not fit through the restroom window.

This prompted Capa to invite the five security guards, who were on duty from Oct. 26 to Oct. 29, and a bank accountant, to undergo a lie detector test.

Capa earlier said that while the polygraph exam is not admissible as evidence, this can help policemen determine the people on whom to focus their investigation.