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Management trainee caught by hidden camera raiding restaurant’s safe

By Jeannette I. Andrade

Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—A cleverly hidden security camera led to the arrest late Monday afternoon of an aspiring store manager who allegedly pocketed some P250,000 in cash earnings of a restaurant in Manila, police said.

The manager-in-training of the Classic Savory Restaurant inside the SM San Lazaro Mall in Manila was caught on closed-circuit television footage taking money late Sunday night from the restaurant’s vault and stuffing the bills inside the pockets of his pants.

The damning video led to the man’s arrest at around 5 p.m.  Monday by operatives of the Manila Police District Theft and Robbery Section who caught up with him in his Caloocan City home. Although none of the stolen cash was recovered, the man was charged with qualified theft at the city prosecutor’s office on Tuesday.

Inspector Jimmy Labarda  of the MPD Theft and Robbery Section  said that the alleged robbery happened at around 9 p.m. Sunday  while the restaurant employees were closing the store.

“In the video, (the management trainee) positioned himself behind the counter where the cash vault was concealed underneath. He kept on looking around and watching the restaurant manager who was standing across him and had his back turned, giving out instructions to other employees. (The trainee) then started taking money from the vault and stuffing it inside his pants pockets,” Labarda told the Inquirer.

The theft of two days’ worth of the restaurant’s earnings of P251,000 was discovered on Monday morning, prompting store officials to review CCTV footage of the previous day. After viewing the video, Classic Savory Restaurant area manager Ellen Zaldivia sought the help of the MPD Theft and Robbery Section.

“He (trainee) probably did not know there was a CCTV camera. He has only been employed in the restaurant for a month,” Labarda pointed out, adding that despite the security camera footage taken of him, the suspect denied stealing the money.