P600T cash stolen from Girl Scouts office

At least P600,000 cash was stolen from the office of the regional director of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines in Central Visayas (GSP-7) in what police said is a possible inside job.

The money was kept in a vault at the office of GSP-7 director Aida Saromines in Capitol Hills, barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City.

The theft was discovered at 7:15 a.m. yesterday by Teodulo Gabunada, janitor of the three-story building.

There were no indications that the vault was forcibly opened and signs of forced entry in the office, said Insp. Rolando Pinili, chief of the theft and robbery section (TRS) of the Cebu city police.

“Why it (vault) was opened easily when only the two cashiers knew the code of the vault?,” said Pinili in a press briefing.

Cashiers Marilyn Duran and Maria Melma Cabriana refused to talk to reporters.

Pinili said the two security guards who were on duty from Wednesday night to Thursday morning, two cashiers, the janitor who discovered the theft and the caretaker were considered as suspects.

Pinili said they will be subjected to polygraph or lie detector tests.

Security guard Glecerio Buquir said he didn’t hear any unusual sound when he inspected the surroundings between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. last Wednesday.

The second floor houses the office of the staffers. The third floor served as a dormitory while the function hall and the kitchen area were located in the ground floor

Pinili said Renato Virtucio, caretaker rechecked the building at past 10 p.m. Wednesday before he left the area.

“He left the campsite early to attend the fiesta in Guadalupe,” said Pinili.

Pinili said the last workers to leave last Wednesday were the two cashiers.

Part of the stolen money were proceeds from the function halls and campsite rentals and bonuses for the employees.

Police said P20,000 cash was not taken as the thieves may have failed to notice it since it was covered with pieces of paper.

Personnel of the Crime Scene Investigation Unit took latent prints from the office and fingerprint samples from the staffers of the campsite.

The eight-hectare campsite caters to different outdoor activities.