Hollywood-style robbery of Iran's largest bank
Thieves surprised everyone by stealing 250 safe deposit boxes from the Mumtaz branch of Bank Melli on Enqelab Street in Tehran.
The Young Journalists Club affiliated with the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation reported that, during the long holidays marking the anniversary of the death of the founder of the Islamic Republic, a number of thieves broke into the Mumtaz branch of the Melli Bank opposite Tehran University and robbed about 250 safety deposit boxes in the branch and took their contents with them.
The Iranian Broadcasting Corporation also announced that the thieves entered the bank's safe deposit box from the adjacent building and left the bank without leaving a trace, taking the contents of 250 boxes that people had deposited with the National Bank of Iran. The public relations department of the National Bank confirmed this news and announced that the bank was not aware of the contents of the safe deposit box, so it cannot comment on the volume or number of the theft. The police say that the thieves were fully familiar with the bank's environment, so much so that they took the video recording device, including cameras and their memory, with them. For this reason, the intelligence and investigation police have not been able to obtain accurate statistics and information about the theft, including the number of thieves and how they infiltrated the bank's system. The security alarm system of this premium branch was not connected to the police, but it sent an alert to the branch manager, but the manager did not follow up on the matter, thinking that there was a problem in the system and the wrong alert message was sent.
The head of Tehran's intelligence police also said that several bank employees were negligent and negligent in the initial investigation into the incident, that they are under surveillance, and that investigations into them are ongoing.
“A bank safe deposit box is a suitable and safe place to store valuable personal property such as gold, currency, documents, securities and evidence.” This is the text that appears on the Iranian banks’ websites in the safe deposit box rental section. The banks also claim that they have very high security to protect the contents of the safe deposit boxes. Their website also states: “Among other advantages of bank safe deposit boxes is that neither the bank nor anyone else will be aware of the contents of the safe deposit box you rent. In addition, the bank safe deposit box is more secure than personal safe deposit boxes, and a full-time armed guard to protect the safe deposit box and advanced fire-fighting systems and communication with the nearest police station for automatic warning in case of danger are also part of the security measures that have been prepared to protect the safe deposit boxes and centralized safe deposit boxes.”
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.
Abbas Abdi, a journalist close to the reformists, wrote on his Twitter account in response to the robbery: "The robbery from the National University Bank is not the work of ordinary thieves. Unexpected possibilities must be considered for it. Rather than a robbery aimed at obtaining money and gold, it is aimed at security. Look at it like an assassination and not a robbery. If it was an ordinary robbery, they would be arrested immediately."
Source: Voice of America
