Ambiguity in compensation for those who lost their property in the theft from the safe deposit box of the National Bank

Following the theft of a number of rented safes at a branch of Bank Melli in Tehran, the bank's public relations department announced that it would fully compensate for the stolen property as soon as possible. However, many doubt the feasibility of this claim.

Bank Melli's public relations department issued a statement saying, "In this regard, necessary coordination has been made with judicial authorities to appoint a special investigator to attend the site and handle the applicants' requests, and the value of the stolen property will be fully compensated."

This claim comes at a time when a bank official believes that due to the lack of evidence to substantiate the claims and prove the existence of funds, the insurance company and the bank cannot pay the damages.

According to Mohammad Reza Jamshidi, secretary of the Association of Private Banks and Credit Institutions, given that the bank is unaware of the contents of the boxes, compensation is only possible through an agreement between the customer and the relevant bank.

He further added that the bank building and its property are covered by insurance, but the bank's vaults are not, and the bank can only pay for damages to these vaults if the customer can prove how much goods or objects they had in the vault.

According to Mohammad Reza Jamshidi, insurance does not cover damage to bank funds unless the customer complains to the bank so that the matter can be followed up.

He further added that since the bank representative does not witness what the customer has placed in the safe deposit box when delivering the box to the customer, it is impossible to prove what is in the box in the event of an incident.

Of course, Mohammad Reza Jamshidi emphasized that there is a special fund for valuables in banks where people can deposit their valuables with the bank and pay for its maintenance, and insurance will pay for the damages in the event of an accident to those items.

According to ISNA, about 168 rented safes were damaged in the robbery at this branch of Bank Melli in Tehran.

According to the head of Tehran's intelligence police, several bank employees were found to have been negligent in the initial investigation into the incident, and they are under surveillance and investigations are ongoing.

The police say they are trying to uncover the secret behind the theft of the National Bank's safe deposit boxes, but cyberspace users, citing the scale of the theft and recent political events, consider this incident to be more than just a robbery.

Source: Voice of America