QC bank robber used loot to buy Agusan farmland

After single-handedly robbing a Quezon City bank of around P1.3 million in May last year, a former security guard was arrested on Wednesday in Agusan del Sur province where he went into hiding for eight months and used the loot to buy his own farmland.

Reynante Gante, 35, was turned over to the Quezon City Police District on Friday after his capture in Sitio Lilo, Barangay Sta. Ines, in the town of San Luis.

Gante, then a member of Audacious Security Agency manning the Chinabank branch on E. Rodriguez Sr. Boulevard in Quezon City, admitted the crime before reporters in a press conference held by the QCPD.

He said he only robbed the bank to get back at the branch manager following a heated argument. “The manager thought lowly of us security guards, so I decided to retaliate. I was tempted by the money,” he said in Filipino, adding that it was his first time to commit robbery and that he acted alone.

“I did this, and so I will face it,” Gante said.

On the night of May 25, 2012, the bank’s employees were about to leave after conducting an audit when Gante, who was still on duty, declared the robbery. He took about P1.3 million in cash from the vault and locked up the employees in a room.

After the heist, investigators said, Gante decided to hide in Agusan del Sur instead of his native Davao province. With the stolen cash, he was able to buy three hectares of land where he planted rice and corn.

Theft and robbery section head Insp. Alan de la Cruz said the QCPD received information on the suspect’s location and sought help from Region 13 and San Luis police units.

Gante was arrested on a warrant issued by Judge Francisco Germano Legaspi of QC Regional Trial Court Branch 77.