RECOVERED. The money recovered by the police from suspect John Paul Cruz, former manager of a pawnshop, who allegedly broke into his former workplace and stole money and jewelry on Sunday (Nov. 10, 2019). (Photo courtesy of Cagayan de Oro City police)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – A former manager of a popular chain of pawnshops here is facing charges after he was accused of stealing pieces of jewelry and cash estimated worth PHP8.3 million from his previous employer, police said Monday.
Maj. Evan Viñas, city police spokesperson, identified the suspect as 26-year-old John Paul Cruz, the former branch manager of Palawan Pawnshop in Vamenta Boulevard, Barangay Carmen here.
Cruz, a resident of Barangay Lumbia here, will be charged with large-scale theft, Viñas said.
Viñas said Cruz was “honorably discharged” by the pawnshop management for “misappropriation” of company funds six months ago.
It was not immediately known how much Cruz had allegedly embezzled, but Viñas said the company has not pressed charges against the suspect.
According to a police report, the suspect took away PHP8 million worth of jewelry and cash amounting to PHP319,330 from the pawnshop’s vault on Saturday night.
The report said Cruz used a thin plastic card to open the pawnshop’s main door. It also noted the suspect entered the establishment “without any force of entry”.
While inside the pawnshop, police said Cruz managed to get hold of a set of keys to open the two padlocks of the vault before finally opening it with a combination lock that was unchanged after he left the company.
Police said Cruz also carted away the closed-circuit television camera device inside the establishment, apparently to remove any trace of the incident.
“After taking away the cash and jewelry, the suspect boarded a ‘habal-habal’ (motorcycle-for-hire) driven by a still unidentified individual,” Viñas said.
Cruz was arrested by officers of the Carmen police inside his home in Lumbia following a follow-up operation Sunday evening.
Viñas said it was the suspect’s wife, also a Palawan Pawnshop manager in another branch, who convinced Cruz to confess to the police.
Investigators are now also looking into the alleged laxity on the part of the pawnshop management.
“They (management) did not change the vault code making it easily accessible to the suspect,” he said. (PNA)
