Bank ordered to pay compensation to robbery victim
Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
Republic Bank Limited (RBL) has been ordered to pay compensation to a former employee, who lost $300,000 in jewellery and foreign currency in a brazen break-in at its Couva branch in 2022.
High Court Judge Carol Gobin ordered the bank to pay compensation to Curtis Mathura as she upheld his negligence lawsuit on Monday.
Justice Gobin ruled that the bank’s security systems fell short and below the standard that was required.
She said, “A group of intruders shockingly managed to conduct a four-hour operation between 1.02 am and 5.04 am, using heavy equipment, drilling walls, crawling on the ground avoiding cameras and sensors to carry out a well-planned and well-executed heist, breaking several security boxes and managed to do so undetected. All of this took place in the vicinity of a police station.”
Justice Gobin noted that the vibration sensors were only positioned at the established doors leading in and out of the bank.
“It was not enough to simply install vibration sensors if they were not located close enough to perimeter walls and especially on the wall to the rear of the building which afforded the perfect entry point away from public view,” she said.
She also took issue with the failure of the bank’s officials to explain how the motion sensors failed to detect the three intruders.
“These were persons who were carrying heavy equipment. Even if they were crawling on the ground, the failure to trigger the alarm was not sufficiently explained,” she said.
Stating that the failure to install such sensors in the safe deposit box vault was inexcusable, Justice Gobin also questioned the bank’s rationale for failing to install CCTV cameras at the entrance to the vault.
“The explanation of not having cameras for privacy could not be considered reasonable if cameras were installed and activated after closure,” she said.
Justice Gobin also took issue with the fact that the bank had alarm response but not external live monitoring.
“The absence of live monitoring in the context of what might be considered reasonable in the current environment of T&T and at the time of the heist, pointed to a failure to provide adequate security in the circumstances,” she said.
While Justice Gobin ordered that the bank pay Mathura compensation, she invited the parties to file further submissions before she performed an assessment.
According to the evidence in the case, Mathura worked with RBL for almost 31 years and was assigned to the branch located along Couva Main Road before he retired.
He claimed that since 2013 he had a safety deposit box at the branch which he used to store his jewelry, including irreplaceable family heirlooms given to him by his parents and grandparents.
Between May 29 and 30, 2022, a group of intruders drilled a hole in a wall of the bank and stole the contents of several safety deposit boxes including Mathura’s. No one was charged in relation to the crime.
Mathura filed the case after the bank refused to compensate him as it denied any liability.
His lawyers, led by Kiel Taklalsingh, contended that the bank failed in its duty to ensure that the branch was sufficiently and suitably secured.
Provided that the judgment is not overturned on appeal, it would affect other victims of the break-in.
Mathura was also represented by Stefan Ramkissoon, Rajiv Sochan, and Matthew Allahar.
RBL was represented by Kerwyn Garcia, SC, Tonya Rowley, and Hillary Muddeen.
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