BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – BANDITS are again on the prowl and within three days they had targeted two of the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank’s Automated Teller Machines (ATM).
Reports reaching SKNVibes indicate that on Sunday (Oct. 17) the booth of the National Bank’s ATM, located off the shoulder of the Frigate Bay Road in the vicinity of the C.A. Paul Southwell Industrial Site, was broken into. Some two days after, another of the Bank’s ATM booth in Tabernacle was also broken into. However, the perpetrators were unable to penetrate both vaults.
According to the Police Press and Public Relations Officer (PRO), Inspector Vaughan Henderson, employees of the National Bank last checked the ATM at the Industrial Site at approximately 10:30 a.m. on Friday, October 15 and everything was in order.
“However, at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday (Oct. 17), as a result of information police received, officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and officials from the bank checked the ATM and discovered that the rear portion of the booth was broken into.
“Officers of the Crime Scene Department processed the scene and found that the perpetrator or perpetrators were unable to penetrate the vault. Investigations into this incident are ongoing,” the PRO said.
SKNVibes however learnt that the discovery was made by a senior personnel of the bank who is responsible for ATMs. It was also learnt that after the perpetrator or perpetrators’ forced entry into the booth, they disabled the security cameras and alarm system but failed in their attempt to open the well-secured vault.
Henderson informed that a report was made at the Tabernacle Police Station at 11:30 a.m. yesterday (Oct. 19) that the ATM booth in Tabernacle was broken into.
“Officers of the Tabernacle Police Station responded and investigations revealed that the rear portion of the booth was broken into but whoever had done it was unable to penetrate the vault. As was in the Industrial Site break-in, no suspect was held in relation to this matter but investigations are also ongoing,” he added.
Inspector Henderson also informed that “ATMs are extremely fortified and it makes no sense for persons to break into them. These machines have built-in security features within the vaults, and even if they were to penetrate a vault they wouldn’t get very far without being detected”.
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