Burglars dig tunnel to loot Malaysian finance firm
Burglars dig tunnel to loot Malaysian finance firm
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Burglars broke into the vault of a finance
company and escaped with millions of dollars worth of valuables
after digging a 25-meter long tunnel under the firm, officials
and news reports said yesterday.
In what was described as Malaysia's most imaginative, daring
and puzzling theft, the thieves emptied safe deposit boxes at
Mayban Finance in Kuala Lumpur's suburbs during the weekend after
burrowing under the firm for several days or perhaps weeks.
Police and officials of Malayan Banking Bhd., parent company
of Mayban Finance, said Tuesday they could not immediately
ascertain the value of goods carted away. "We honestly don't
know," said spokesman Prakas Mukherjee.
Local newspapers, however, estimated the loss at between 10
and 30 million ringgit (US$8 million to $12 million) based on
interviews carried out with confidential sources and depositors
of valuables at the company.
"It's too early to estimate the total loss," said Author
Edmonds, police chief for the Cheras suburb in Kuala Lumpur where
the burglary occurred.
The theft, similar to the plot of a 1981 film called Loophole,
was discovered on Monday, when the finance company reopened for
business after three days holiday for the Moslem Idul Fitri
festival.
Local dailies said the burglars dug a 25 meter tunnel from a
road outside the firm to reach the vault and were believed to
have spent several hours inside the strongroom as police found
discarded food and water bottles.
"Considering the amount of effort involved, the tunneling must
have taken at least a month. The whole thing was professionally
done," the New Straits Times quoted a source as saying, adding
that the burglars had evaded the alarm.
The thieves were reported to have emptied 640 safe deposit
boxes, containing both local and foreign currencies, jewelry,
share certificates, commemorative coins and stamps and other
important documents like passports and property title deeds.
Depositors of valuables were still queuing up at the company
yesterday to cite their estimated loss and seek compensation.
The Sun daily, however, quoted legal professionals as saying
that the depositors may not be able to recover their loss as
finance companies here usually excluded liability when keeping
goods other than money.
Last year, burglars entered the vault of MBf Finance, another
credit company, in Kuala Lumpur's suburbs and made away with
200,000 ringgit worth of valuables after using a blowtorch to cut
down the wall of the strongroom. The thieves or goods have yet to
be found.