The guard on an armored cash transport car was arrested in Taichung late Saturday after he allegedly stole about NT$2 million (US$66,249) from the vehicle and fled with the cash, police said.
The 22-year-old suspect, surnamed Lai (?), was arrested at a motel, after allegedly stealing the money in Nantou County earlier in the day and spending some NT$700,000 of it to buy a used car, Nantou County police said.
The police said that late Saturday they tracked Lai and recovered the rest of the money, which was about NT$1.2 million.
Lai, who worked as a security guard at Long Bon Security Group, allegedly stole NT$2 million from the armored cash transport car Saturday afternoon during a rest stop with his colleague on Qingyun Street in Caotun Township, Nantou.
The colleague, surnamed Wu (?), told police that he exited the vehicle first and went into a nearby restaurant, but Lai did not follow. After a while, Lai entered the restaurant and told Wu he had to leave temporarily to take care of a family matter, according to the police.
When Lai failed to return, Wu tried calling him but could not reach him. Suspecting that something was not right, Wu checked the car and discovered that some of the money was missing, police said.
Wu then called the police, who checked the footage from surveillance cameras and found that Lai had taken a bag from the car, they said.
He was later traced to Taichung and arrested, with NT$1.2 million still in hand, police said, without giving any information on who the money belonged to or where it was being transported to when it was stolen.
According to police, the suspect has a criminal record of forgery.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel