Car abandoned in mall by Romanians yields bag with P3M

Two of the three Romanians arrested for hacking ATMs in Cebu City at the balcony of their condominium unit —JUNJIE MENDOZA/CEBU DAILY NEWS

CEBU CITY—The continuing investigation by police into a group of Romanians suspected of hacking automated teller machines (ATM) at a government-owned bank here led police to an abandoned car that had carried at least P3 million and laptops that probers are now checking for links to the ATM hacking.

Members of the police Regional Intelligence Division (RID) recovered the car, a Toyota Camry, believed to have been used by three Romanians who are now in police custody following their arrest on suspicion of involvement in hacking ATMs of Land Bank of the Phils.

The hacking led to unauthorized withdrawals from accounts of government employees, policemen, soldiers, a prosecutor and a retired judge.

The Camry with license plate ZKM 158 was turned over to police on Sunday when no one came forward to claim the vehicle that was left at the Ayala Center Cebu mall’s basement parking lot on Friday.

It was the same car found open by security guards of the mall while it was parked in the basement on Thursday.

When the guards peeked through the windows that were rolled down, they found a bag that turned out to contain money.

The guards took the bag and, through a public address system, announced its discovery. The bag was later claimed by two Romanians who counted the money in front of the guards. It totaled P3 million, according to Senior Supt. Jonathan Cabal, RID head. –Ador Vincent Mayol