Trader slain in front of kin after leaving money shop

Manila’s horrendous traffic jams were all the gunmen needed to catch up.

A businessman was killed Friday night in front of family members aboard their sports utility vehicle (SUV) by four motorcycle-riding men who were after his bags containing millions of pesos in cash.

Adonis Peren, 45, and his wife and son were then heading home from a money changing shop when the robbers started tailing the victim’s white Honda CRV on Mabini Street at around 8 p.m.

The Perens, who lived in Lemery, Batangas, had just exchanged currency at the Nikko money changer shop in Ermita. The victim had been into the money changing business for the last 14 years and operated his own shop in Lemery, police said.

The robbers started shooting at the SUV’s tires when it reached San Marcelino Street, but Peren kept on driving in a bid to escape until he got caught in heavy traffic at the Quirino Avenue intersection.

The bottleneck allowed the assailants to catch up. Two of them got off their motorcycles—one shooting Peren in the driver’s seat, the other smashing the Honda’s left rear window and grabbing a bag containing P1 million in cash, an iPhone and two credit cards from inside the vehicle.

Peren’s wife and his 11-year-old son emerged unhurt from the shooting. The robbers failed to take a second bag containing P3.8 million in cash, police said.

SPO1 Mario Asilo of the Manila Police District said Peren died from his gunshot wounds before reaching the hospital.

The officer said the robbers were probably tipped off about the businessman’s latest transaction with the money changer shop in Ermita.