PSBank heist

BATANGAS—A branch of PSBank in Lipa City lost a still undisclosed amount of cash to a group of robbers that tunneled its way into the bank vault in a heist that was discovered only last Monday, authorities said.

Trying to piece together what happened, Chief Insp. Ferdinand Ancheta, deputy chief of police of Lipa, said the heist may have been pulled off as early as December when the thieves started digging a tunnel leading to the bank on JP Laurel Highway in Lipa.

Ancheta could not say when the tunnel was completed, but he said the actual break-in could have taken place last Friday after banking hours.

One end of the tunnel was found in a drainage canal about 12-15 feet from the bank, he said.

Work on the tunnel could have taken weeks, if not months, to finish, judging from the way it was constructed, said Ancheta. It has a diameter of about 5 feet which was wide enough for a medium-built person to pass through, he said.

A bank guard discovered the heist last Monday when he reported for work at 8 a.m.

What the guard and authorities found, according to Ancheta, were clear signs of a break-in: tables and chairs in disarray, a baseball bat wedged to the front door, gloves in the drainage outside the bank, guns and bullets missing from the bank armory and muddy footprints on the bank floor.

Employees of the bank confirmed cash was stolen from the vault, although they refused to disclose the amount that was taken, Ancheta said. Jerome Balinton, Inquirer Southern Luzon