Bingo club loses P1.9M

CEBU, Philippines- Over P1.9 million was stolen by six men who robbed the 8-eBingo Club in the premises of the City Times Square Mall in Barangay Tipolo, Mandaue City, shortly before 2 p.m. yesterday.

Senior Police Officer 1 Allen Curado, investigator of the Subangdaku Police station, said based on security camera footage two of the robbers entered the club first at 1:52 p.m. and posed as players.

After 12 minutes two more men also entered the club and posed as players while the two others were outside as lookouts.

Curado said one of them later approached cashier Gieselle Cutor, 28, and announced a hold-up while two others pointed their guns at security guard Marlon Conde and ordered him to lie facing the floor. One was armed with a .45 cal. pistol, the other a KG-9 submachine gun.

Another robber who was wearing a green shirt and ball cap, grabbed the cashier’s arms and led her out of her workstation. He was later seen taking P794,137 cash from the drawer in her workstation and placing it in a box.

The robbers also took P1.1 million cash from the club’s vault.

“Paghuman gyud ug tulis, gipasud dayon ang unom ka mga trabahante ngadto sa CR ug mao na lay naabtan sa ilang OIC nga si Marife Piato nga naghilak na ang mga attendant,” Curado said.

He said that the P794.137 is the establishment’s “cash float”.

“Kadto ilang cash float mao toy gamit sa ilang daily operations unta,” Curado said.

Curado added that the establishment has 16 security cameras but only eight were functional.

One of the cameras was able to focus on the face of the robber in the green shirt who cleaned out the drawer; Curado said that the footage will be enhanced so the robber can be identified.

Police were alerted but failed to arrest the suspects.

Investigators are not discounting an inside job because the manner of execution was well–planned and the robbers knew where the money was kept.  —/BRP (FREEMAN)