New Taipei City prosecutors yesterday named Yu Ning-chun (游甯鈞) as the sole suspect in a bank heist that occurred on Friday last week, saying that Yu had been questioned to determine his motive for committing the robbery.
Most of the stolen money has been recovered, police said, adding that Yu allegedly carried out the robbery in the hope of paying off gambling debts.
The 29-year-old is a chef at the five-star Westin Taipei, where he heads the hotel’s Silk Road Feast restaurant.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Prosecutors said they applied to have Yu detained on the grounds that he is a likely flight risk and that evidence could be corrupted.
Yu allegedly used a toy gun to rob a Sunny Bank branch in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋), making off with NT$3.34 million (US$108,677) in cash.
Police said that they apprehended him on Saturday during a car chase in Banqiao District, where they recovered all but NT$100,000 of the money.
Yu allegedly paid NT$900,000 of the money to a pawn shop so that he could get his Mercedes-Benz sedan back, police said, adding that remaining NT$2.44 million was found in the trunk divided among three bags.
Police quoted Yu as saying that he had planned to give one bag to his mother, one to his girlfriend and one to his elder sister.
Westin Taipei plans to cease operations today due to an increase in rental costs, but Yu’s alleged involvement in the heist was due to his online gambling addiction, not to the hotel closure, investigators said.
At one point, Yu had accumulated NT$5 million in gambling debts, they said, adding that Yu had pawned his luxury sedan to pay off creditors.
Police quoted Yu as saying: “I was surprised that I was able to make off with NT$3.34 million. I had planned to drive my Mercedes around Taiwan to escape police.”
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