Disguised blessings

Thieves don’t want to be obvious when stealing. One left his job at a restaurant before targeting it, having studied how to rob the place.

The former worker of the fast food restaurant in Carmona, Cavite struck on the night of 8 July. He got inside the establishment by hiding in the chiller and coming out when the place was already closed.

The man headed to the store’s office and destroyed the vault containing P91,505. He then left on foot bound for Biñan, Laguna.

Through security camera footage, the police were able to identify the thief and where he had gone. Officers from the Carmona Municipal Police Station arrested him the following day and recovered the stolen money, reports said.

Meanwhile, a civilian employee at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, United States was so discreet in stealing money from her office that nobody noticed for six years until 2023.

As a financial program manager for the Army Morale, Welfare and Recreation program, she obtained funds from the military grant program for her organization, the Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development. The 57-year-old reportedly got 40 grants from December 2016 to August 2023 and used the funds to live a lavish life.

“Rather than $109 million in federal funds going to the care of military children throughout the world, she selfishly stole that money to buy extravagant houses, more than 80 vehicles, and over 1,500 pieces of jewelry,” said United States Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas, Yahoo! News reports.

Prosecutors said Mello was able to steal so much because of her years of experience, expert knowledge of the grant program, and accumulated trust among her supervisors and co-workers, according to Yahoo! News.

In March, Mello pleaded guilty to charges of stealing the said amount and was sentenced on 23 July to 15 years in federal prison.