Lending firm loses P1.8M to thieves

A lending company lost close to P2 million in cash to burglars who broke into its office in Quezon City between Friday night and Saturday morning.

Senior Police Officer 4 Allan de la Cruz, chief of the theft and robbery section of the Quezon City Police District, said the burglary took place at the Prime Consortium Finance Corp. office located at the third floor of a commercial building on 17 Baler St. in San Francisco del Monte.

According to De la Cruz, the firm closed for business around 5:30 p.m. on Friday.

The loss of the money, on the other hand, was discovered around 7:30 a.m. the following day by Beverly Auxtero, a utility worker.

Auxtero told the police that she came in on Saturday morning to clean the lending firm’s office.

But when she got there, she said she found several of the tables in disarray with their drawers thrown open.

She also noticed that the door of the stockroom had been left slightly open.

She told probers that she looked inside but found no one there.

At this point, she decided to report the matter to the building security guard who was on duty. The guard then called the police.

Elsa Ang-Go, the owner of the lending firm, told the police that the robbers took P1.8 million in cash.

The money was wrapped in a big transparent plastic bag and had been hidden in the drawer of a steel cabinet inside the stockroom, she said.

She added that the money was to be lent out to some of their clients on Tuesday, the first working day of the week, since Monday is a holiday.

The police said that based on their initial investigation, the burglars had climbed up to the third floor of the building where the lending firm is located by scaling a terrace.

They then forced open a window that led to the stockroom where the money was kept.

Investigators, however, noted that to reach the terrace, the burglars would need to pass through the security guard stationed at the ground floor.

The building does not have a closed circuit television camera system, one of the requirements set by the city government for establishments in order to help authorities in the fight against crimes.