31 July 2009
BAGHDAD - Three people have been arrested over a Baghdad bank robbery earlier this week in which eight police guards were killed and all the stolen money recovered, Iraqi official television said Friday.
Al-Iraqiya said that the arrests took place during a police swoop on Thursday and that the entire haul of 4.8 billion Iraqi dinars (3.8 million dollars) stolen from Al-Rafidain bank was recovered.
The television showed images of a Toyota Land Cruiser and equipment it said was used in Tuesday’s heist, one of Iraq’s biggest ever.
An interior ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that a suspect’s confession had led police to a house in Baghdad’s central shopping district of Karrada where the money was hidden.
The official said that the house, in the same neighbourhood as the bank that was robbed, belonged to an Iraqi soldier.
Eight police guards were found dead in the basement of the bank after Tuesday’s pre-dawn raid by the robbers, whom police had said were probably insurgents looking to replenish their funds.
Police said it appeared as if the robbers had help from an inside source, as the heist took place a day after a large transfer of cash to the bank and no doors or windows were damaged.