Armed robberies committed on persons exiting city banks with large sums of money have been ongoing for a number of years, with four such cases recorded recently and it would appear that these crimes are carried out by gangs who are supplied with information.
Often victims sustain life-threatening injuries, which in many, if not most cases, are the outcome of them fighting off their attackers, trying to escape or raising an alarm.
A senior police official recently related to Stabroek News that the perpetrators usually operate in gangs and have at least one member present in the bank to provide them with the necessary information. In most instances, the information is given by the use of cell phones.
The official revealed that while the circumstances under which these incidents occur vary, there is a need for the victims to be more aware and to practice more security measures.
One such scenario, he related, was where after having visited the bank to withdraw a large sum of money, persons stop and carry around the cash while shopping or even leave it in their vehicles, instead of going straight back home to the necessary office.
As a result of this, they are either robbed while on the errand or their vehicles are broken into.
In one of the most recent cases, a Plaisance, East Coast Demerara (ECD) businessman was shot and robbed of $4 million, less than one hour after he and a friend had visited a city bank.
The incident occurred on December 16, when Kenneth Earle, who operates a minibus service was shot twice to his leg, after he and Sekou Musa, a manager attached to Qualfon and of Triumph, ECD were attacked by two armed bandits.
Reports had revealed that the men went to Scotia Bank on Robb Street, Georgetown to withdraw the cash after which they left for Earle’s Plaisance residence in motor vehicle PVV 2520 driven by Earle. On their way there, they stopped at a hardware store in Plaisance, where Earle gave Musa half of the cash to keep. They then drove to the businessman’s home and were about to exit the vehicle, when two armed bandits appeared and discharged several rounds at them.
Two of the bullets struck Earle to his leg and he was relieved of the cash he had in his possession. However, while this was transpiring Sekou managed to jump over the fence.
A small quantity of the cash which Earle had withdrawn to pay his bus workers was recovered and the bandits escaped in a heavily tinted motorcar. No one has since been arrested.
According to the police source, there are also instances where persons are targeted while carrying out transactions on behalf of the organizations with which they work.
“There may be someone working with that same company who gives out information…,” the official stated, while adding that there was no doubt that few of these incidents were even staged.
Between the period of November 16 and December 16, there were four instances whereby persons were robbed after exiting the bank. In all four, shots were fired but only two victims sustained gunshot injuries.
One of the victims who was shot was Earle while the other was a supervisor attached to BK International. On December 6, 29-year-old John Brian sustained a gunshot injury to his right thigh and was robbed of $3 million near the compound of the Ministry of Finance on Main Street.
The police had said that Brian was had visited a city bank to conduct a transaction and was walking along Urquhart Street, North Cummingsburg when he was approached by the two armed bandits who exited a white Toyota Premio.
Brian, the police said, became afraid and ran to the Ministry of Finance’s gate, where he threw a haversack containing the cash into the compound. “The suspects went into the compound, collected the bag and were exiting when the victim tried retrieving same… The armed suspect discharged his firearm in his direction, hitting him to his right thigh,” the police had said.
The perpetrators managed to escape and have not been apprehended.
This incident was the second in less than one month to have occurred in the same vicinity. On November 16, a Better Hope, ECD businessman and his employee were robbed of $2.5 million, moments after they too had visited a city bank.
At the time of that attack, the men were in a Toyota Hilux pick-up at the traffic light in front of the Ministry of Finance. No arrest was made in that case.
The most recent was the Tower Suites robbery during which an accountant was relieved of $2.9 million. Two suspects, Curtis Vasconcellos and Jason Howard, were apprehended by the police following a high-speed chase.
They have since been charged with the robbery along with several other crimes including the murder of Good Hope, rice farming couple, Mohamed and Jamilla Munir. Howard was the alleged mastermind in the Munirs’ murder.
The police official is urging persons to be more security conscious when visiting the banks to carry out such large transactions. While noting that there are police ranks present around almost every city bank to ensure safety and security, these crimes in most cases do not occur around the bank, but when the opportunity presents itself.
