Brazen thieves in Taipei County yesterday robbed an armored van of NT$90 million while the van's security guards were in a restaurant having lunch.
After the theft was discovered, police set up roadblocks on major roads and bridges nearby in the hope of intercepting the van.
Acting on tip-offs from the public, police later located the van dumped in Wuku (五股), Taipei County, minus NT$87 million.
The rest of the money, NT$2.95 million, was left behind.
The robbery occurred around midday yesterday, when security staff from the Li-Pao Security Company (立保保全) were escorting the huge amount of cash for the Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託商業銀行).
The security guards -- Lee Chen-ming (李陳明), Lee Chen-lung (李振隆) and Chen Chien-chih (陳建志) -- and a Chinatrust clerk stopped the van on a street in Wuku and went for lunch at a nearby restaurant.
After lunch, the men went back to where the armored van was parked but it had disappeared.
Although it appears the guards had broken security procedures by leaving the van unattended, there was no evidence to link the men to the crime.
The wife of driver Lee Chen-ming attested to her husband's character yesterday, while waiting for him at the police station.
"It's impossible for my husband to get involved in the theft. He is an honest person," she said.
Wu Ping-yen (武炳炎), chairman of the Li-Pao Security Corp, admit-ted yesterday that it is "absurd" that the four men went for lunch and left the money completely unguarded.
"It's a stated policy of our company that security guards, while on duty, cannot leave their job. And it's just too absurd that they didn't have anyone watch the money when they were out for lunch," Wu said.
Lin Lei (
The NT$90 million is the largest amount stolen from an armored van in the past few years.
Last September, an armored van driver stole over NT$48 million.
And in 1997, a driver of an armored van stole more than NT$10 million.
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