TEHRAN | Bank Melli of Iran (BMI), the country’s largest banking institution, reported on Tuesday a spectacular burglary in one of its most important branches in Tehran where more than 160 safes were broken into.
Taking advantage of the national holiday, the burglars broke into the BMI branch on Enghelab Street, one of the capital’s arteries, on Sunday and broke into 168 safes, the bank announced on its website without indicating the amount of damage.
According to the Fars news agency, the thieves forced the lock on the back door of the bank through the parking lot and exited through the same door, closing it behind them.
Police denied a report by local media that the alarm had been raised to warn the branch manager but that the latter had failed to respond due to several false alarms in the past.
The case was commented on social networks, Internet users referring to a theft of an unprecedented scale which “resembles a Hollywood film”.
Some reported “about a thousand safes” affected and the theft of “server room and monitoring center equipment” from BMI.
According to the official Irna news agency, citing Tehran’s criminal police, several employees are being investigated for “negligence”.
The bank “undertook to fully compensate the losses suffered by the owners of safes”, assured the BMI.
