Story of $6M Bank Heist Will Have You Shaking Your Head

Authorities say Costa Rica's largest-ever bank heist was an inside job
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 9, 2023 2:00 AM CST
Costa Rica's Largest-Ever Bank Heist Was Inside Job
Stock photo of Costa Rican money.   (Getty Images / johan10)

Little by little, an employee of Costa Rica's National Bank took advantage of a surveillance blindspot to slip more than $6 million worth of currency into envelopes and casually walk out of the country's largest bank, authorities said Wednesday. First announced last month, it was the largest bank heist in the country's history. Police carried out 11 raids and arrested eight bank officials Wednesday, the AP reports. The $6.1 million robbery that apparently went unnoticed and unreported for weeks caused much finger-pointing in the Central American nation.

There were no lack of distressing details. For example, while one employee, a treasurer, took the cash out of the bank, several others allegedly covered it up. Authorities are still trying to determine if they were in on the robbery or just didn't want to take the blame when it was discovered the money was missing. Also, the last physical accounting of the bank's cash was made in 2019. And investigators are looking into whether the bank's legal director issued an order to delay a report about the missing money. But perhaps most likely to cause bemused head shaking was the allegation that one of those involved suddenly began spending as much as $6,000 a day on lottery tickets.

"There was neglect on the part of all of the other officials," Randall Zúñiga, director of the Judicial Investigation Department said. "They did not sufficiently look into the fact that this person was taking this money. He was able to very casually leave with the envelope in his hands, passing through the security points and there was no internal control." Attorney General Carlo Díaz said additional investigation, including reviewing suspects' bank accounts, was necessary to determine the role of others.

(More Costa Rica stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X