A disbursing officer and her daughter in Barili town, southern Cebu are detained after being arrested for allegedly stealing cash intended as salary for employees in the town’s municipal hall.
CEBU CITY, Philippines – A disbursing officer and her daughter in Barili town, southern Cebu were arrested last Tuesday, June 6, 2023, for allegedly stealing cash intended as salary for employees in the town’s municipal hall.
Police Major Janus Giangan, chief of Barili Police Station, identified the suspects as Lucia Concepcion and her daughter, Jane Nicole Concepcion.
The two were accused of stealing cash amounting to P31,000 from the vault inside the Disbursing Section of the Municipal Treasurer’s Office in Barili.
The money they took apparently was set aside as salaries for several employees in the local government.
An employee at the office discovered around 8 a.m. on Tuesday that the vault inside the Disbursing Section had been broken, and immediately reported it to authorities.
Investigators then conducted an investigation, and reviewed closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage near the Municipal Treasurer’s Office.
One of the videos, said Giangan, showed a woman entering and exiting the treasury department around 9 p.m. last Monday, June 5.
Police later identified the trespasser as Jane, who worked as a health aide for the local government of Ronda, which is 30 kilometers south of Barili.
Jane was arrested past 12 p.m. last Tuesday after they received information on her possible whereabouts. Her mother, Lucia, was later arrested inside the Barili Municipal Hall at 1 p.m.
Tight-lipped
According to Giangan, they recovered P19,550 of the stolen cash, and a duplication of the vault’s master key from the two suspects.
The investigator, Police Staff Sergeant Carlos Dicdican, said their findings showed that it was the older Concepcion who handed to her daughter a duplication of the master key for the vault inside the Disbursing Section.
However, the two suspects remained tight-lipped to the allegations hurled against them, Dicdican said.
Complaints on Qualified Theft and Theft had been filed against them.
Barili is a second-class municipality located approximately 55 kilometers southwest of Cebu City.
/bmjo
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