New details in FNB safety deposit heists emerge: report
FNB clients speaking to investigative magazine, Noseweek, have revealed more details in the safety deposit heists which took place late last year – and say they have been left with lingering, unanswered questions by the bank.
According to the 1 May edition of the magazine, many clients remain dissatisfied with how FNB has handled the fiasco, in which a reported 344 safety deposit boxes were stolen from the Randburg and Parktown branches.
The bank was thrust into the spotlight following the high-profile safety deposit box robberies which left customers fuming due to a lack of communication from FNB.
Two days before Christmas in 2016, a FNB branch in Randburg was targeted and hit by criminals, who escaped with over 200 safety deposit boxes containing various valuables of both monetary and sentimental value.
The group was then again hit by a second bank heist in as many months, with the SAPS reporting that R1.7 million had been stolen from the bank’s branch in Parktown.
According to Noseweek, in communication with clients affected, it was explained that the robbers in the Parktown branch breached the vault by breaking through an internal wall at the bank.
Clients were unhappy to hear that the robbers had 12-15 hours to do the heist, and that there was only one, untrained guard on duty, who was locked in his office.
“The CCTV footage was removed from the bank’s own CCTV cameras, presumably by a bank employee collaborating with the thieves,” the report said.
In the Parktown heist, the nearest security guard was at a petrol station next door – this despite the bank having been victim to an ATM heist four months prior, which should have led to increased security.
Following the heists and the subsequent fallout, FNB shut down its safety deposit box services at the start of the year.
FNB refused to comment on Noseweek’s queries around security and details of the heist, it said.
You can read the full report in the 1 May edition of Noseweek
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