‘Outstanding’ guard nabbed for bank heist

MANILA, Philippines - A security guard, once the most outstanding employee in his former agency, was arrested Wednesday for robbing a bank he had been guarding in May 2012.

Reynante Gante, 34, was nabbed in his home province of Agusan del Sur, where he bought himself three hectares of farmland with the P1.3 million he had taken from the bank.

Quezon City Police District director Senior Superintendent Richard Albano said Gante was served by police officers from the Police Regional Office 13 an arrest warrant issued by a Quezon City court in relation to a robbery case filed by the QCPD following the May 25, 2012 bank heist.

Speaking to reporters, Gante said he had an argument with the bank manager that day. “I was just a security guard and the manager thought lowly of me,” Gante said.

Chief Inspector Rodel Marcelo, head of the QCPD Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said Gante staged the robbery on a Friday night, as bank personnel were auditing the bank’s earnings.

Gante herded the employees at gunpoint to the back of the bank and locked them up, Marcelo said.

Inspector Alan dela Cruz said the guard ordered two of the employees to open the bank vault, locked the main door with all the employees inside and made good his escape.

Dela Cruz said Gante, who was under Audacious Security Agency, had been awarded as most outstanding security guard in another agency he was once connected with.

The suspect had sought refuge in Agusan del Sur and apparently spent his loot there, police said. Dela Cruz’s team went all the way to Agusan immediately after the robbery in the hope of arresting Gante.

The suspect had apparently found a sanctuary in the area until his luck ran out this week when he was finally arrested, Dela Cruz said.