Thieves made off with over $160,000 in cash after breaking into Republic Bank’s Ariapita Avenue, Port-of-Spain branch over the Independence long weekend.
Police were told the break-in at the branch, located on the corner of Ariapita Avenue and Murray Street, occurred sometime between Saturday night and Monday morning.
Security officers reporting for duty at the bank yesterday discovered that a wall near the vault had been busted into. However, it appeared the bandits were unable in their attempt to access the bank’s main vault. But further checks by bank officials revealed that a cash bin had been breached.
Police said the bandits made off with TT$127,000, US$5,000, Cdn$500, £205 and Euros $427.
In a statement yesterday, Republic Bank Limited confirmed the break-in at the branch stating: “Overnight teller tills were tampered with and a value of less than $200,000 was stolen.”
The bank said it is providing video footage and other electronic security evidence to assist the police in their investigations.
ASP Anderson Pariman and Inspector Lopez of the Port-of-Spain CID are leading investigations into the incident.