A man who allegedly stole 146 million won ($130,000) from the vault of an ATM maintenance company in broad daylight in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, was arrested without warrant and is currently being investigated, the police announced yesterday.

According to the Cheongnam District Police, the 32-year-old man surnamed Choe was an employee of the company.

At about 1:20 p.m. Saturday, according to police, Choe entered an office of his company on the third floor of a building located in Yongam-dong, Sangdang District in eastern Cheongju.

He was using an office access security card stolen from a former colleague who had earlier retired.

He picked up a vault access card on a desk in the office, where company policy demanded that it be kept, and then headed towards the vault, which he opened with the card.

Stacks of 10,000 won and 50,000 won bills filled the enclosure. He transferred some of them into a black bag he had brought with him, left the building and went to a car parked outside.

The process took only minutes, according to the police account.

This was not Choe’s first theft from his company, the authorities added. He made off with about 15 million won on Feb. 13 and on Saturday added 131 million won to his total haul.

The cash was intended for restocking ATM machines at banks throughout the Cheongju area.

According to police, Choe had gambling debts of 60 million won.

There had been two employees working in the office on Saturday, but one was called away to repair an ATM machine at a nearby bank 10 minutes prior to the break-in.

The remaining employee left the office briefly, leaving the access card on the desk.

The employee later said, “I left my seat for five minutes. When I heard the alarm bell I ran back [to the office] and found the vault door open.” Security officers arrived within ten minutes.

Suspecting that the thief was someone who understood the security system of the vault very well, probably an insider, the police questioned the company’s employees and reviewed CCTV footage around the building, which lead to Choe’s capture. The police obtained a confession from Choe on Sunday evening.

The police plan to apply for an arrest warrant for Choe for theft, they said, adding that the incident also showed several gaping holes in the company’s security procedures that might be replicated at other companies who deal in large amounts of cash.


By Shin Jin-ho, Sarah Kim [sarahkim@joongang.co.kr]


한글 관련 기사

1분 만에 1억 4600만 원 턴 절도범 잡고보니…

현금지급기 관리회사 억대 도난 용의자 검거

도박으로 진 빚을 갚기 위해 자신이 다니는 현금지급기 관리회사에서 억대의 현금을 훔친 30대가 경찰에 붙잡혔다.

충북 청주청남경찰서는 20일 자신이 자금 담당 업무를 맡은 현금지급기 관리회사에서 금품을 훔친 A(32)씨를 절도 혐의로 긴급체포해 조사를 벌이고 있다고 밝혔다.

경찰에 따르면 A씨는 18일 오후 1시17분께 청주시 상당구 용암동 한 현금지급기 관리회사 금고에서 1만원권과 5만원권 현금 1억3111만원을 훔쳐 달아난 혐의를 받고 있다.

조사 결과 도박으로 6000만원의 빚을 진 A씨는 이를 갚기 위해 퇴직한 동료의 보안카드를 몰래 빼돌린 뒤 돈을 훔친 것으로 드러났다.

특히 A씨는 자신의 범행을 위해 지난 12일 훔친 보안카드를 이용해 금고의 보안해제 등을 알아본 뒤 다음날인 13일 1500만원을 훔치는 등 사전 준비까지 철저히 했던 것으로 조사됐다.

앞서 경찰은 보안카드로 금고를 열고 돈을 훔쳐 간 점 등으로 미뤄 내부자 가능성이 높은 것으로 보고 회사 관계자 등을 상대로 수사를 벌여 19일 오후 A씨를 검거해 범행을 자백받았다.

경찰 관계자는 "여러 단계의 보안시스템을 해제하고 1∼2분 사이 범행이 이뤄진 점에 미뤄 회사 사정을 잘 아는 사람으로 용의자를 압축해 빨리 A씨를 검거할 수 있었다"며 "조사를 마친 뒤 오늘 오후에 구속영장을 신청할 방침"이라고 밝혔다.

이어 "이번 사건을 계기로 경찰이 관리하지는 않고 있지만 다액 현금을 취급하는 업체의 보안 상태 등을 점검해 업체에 행정 지도를 할 예정"이라고 덧붙였다.