CEBU CITY—A delay in the discovery of the hacking of an automated teller machine (ATM) of a state-run bank here had helped suspects steal funds from the accounts of government employees in a case of ATM fraud now being probed by the National Bureau of Investigation, according to one investigator.
The NBI was asked by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) to investigate a series of illegal withdrawals at an LBP branch which had victimized at least 50 government employees, including policemen, soldiers, a prosecutor and judges.
Florante Gaoiran, special investigator of the regional NBI office, said he had asked the LBP for copies of security camera footage, bank records and other documents to help in the probe.
Initially, however, Gaoiran noted lapses in LBP’s handling of the ATM skimming cases.
He said while the bank discovered the use of a skimming device on its ATM placed at a branch in Barangay Banilad on Feb. 27, the matter was reported to the NBI only on March 22.
Had the matter been reported earlier, Gaoiran said, NBI and Landbank could have prevented more depositors from becoming victims.
Quick action
Manuel Jose Mari Infante, LBP first vice president and group head for Cebu, Bohol, Samar and Leyte, said bank officials found that the ATM in Banilad had been compromised only on Feb. 27 when technicians discovered a skimming device in the machine.
At least 50 depositors filed a complaint.
Infante said the matter was not reported immediately to authorities as the bank had its own procedure to follow, insisting that the bank acted quickly.
“We were reviewing CCTV footage at that time,” said Infante. “When we went to NBI, we were asked for supporting documents. There has never been a time that we did not cooperate,” he said.
He said once the skimming device was found, LBP officials in Cebu immediately asked the LBP head office to block the accounts of depositors with transactions in the Banilad branch.
The case had rung alarm bells among LBP depositors.
He said footage taken by security cameras showed at least two people, one of them a foreigner, inserting a skimming device into the ATM in Banilad.
The LBP Banilad branch is also being used by officials and employees of the Population Commission (Popcom) in Central Visayas and the National Food Authority in Central Visayas.
Among those victimized, Burce Ragas, head of the regional Popcom office, lost P20,000.
Ragas said he knew of at least five other employees with the same cases.
A photo of one of the suspects had been posted in all LBP branches and ATMs under Infante’s jurisdiction. —WITH DORIS C. BONGCAC AND ADOR VINCENT MAYOL