A man allegedly addicted to online casinos was arrested after robbing the grocery store where he previously worked in Tondo, Manila.
The suspect made off with over half a million pesos from the store’s vault.
According to police, the suspect appeared to be an employee as he walked out of the closed store, but was soon identified as the thief.
He was carrying a paper bag containing more than ₱500,000, which he had taken from the vault.
Investigations revealed that the suspect, dressed in a store uniform, sneaked into the establishment and hid behind a garbage sack.
Once the store had closed and everyone had left, he began rummaging around and found tools to help him with the heist.
Police Lt. Col. Rexon Layug of the MPD-7 Abad Santos Police Station explained that the suspect also found the key to the vault, quickly opened it, and stole the cash inside.
The robbery was only discovered the following day by the store’s employees. Further investigation and backtracking revealed that the suspect had been a former employee of the grocery store.
He had been dismissed earlier due to discrepancies in the handling of funds. Authorities also learned that the suspect was reportedly addicted to online casino gambling.
In a follow-up operation, police tracked down the suspect at his home on Lualhati Street in Tondo. The stolen money was recovered, though some had already been lost to his gambling habits.
Authorities discovered that he had placed several large bets, with amounts of ₱25,000, ₱19,000, and as low as ₱6,000.
Police also recovered a black box from the store’s CCTV and several tools that the suspect had stolen from the store.
The suspect is currently in the custody of the Manila Police District (MPD) and is facing robbery charges.
He declined to make a statement.