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CCNTV6
  • 1 year ago
Republic Bank must now pay the customers who lost items stored in their safety deposit boxes after robbers broke into the bank two years ago and stole the contents of the boxes.
Transcript
00:00The court today found Republic Bank liable for one customer's loss of
00:04personal items in a May 2022 bank heist. The heist at the Kuva Bank involved
00:11robbers tunneling into the bank, drilling into the vault and emptying safety
00:16deposit boxes, stealing the contents. Attorney Kyle Tak-Lalsing says the heist
00:21involved heirlooms of indentured families like Mangal Sutras and gold
00:26coins. Tak-Lalsing, Stephen Ramkisun and Matthew Aloha represented Curtis
00:31Matura, a customer of Republic Bank Kuva, who mounted the legal challenge after
00:36losing his possessions in the robbery. In the matter, High Court Judge Carol
00:41Gobbin was charged with determining whether the bank discharged its
00:46obligations or whether it was negligent in the performance of its contract.
00:50Despite the security measures in place, the intruder, according to the judge,
00:55shockingly conducted a four-hour operation using heavy equipment, drilling
01:01walls, crawling on the ground, avoiding cameras and sensors in a well-planned
01:07and well-executed heist, breaking several security boxes and did so undetected. In
01:13the ruling delivered on Monday, Justice Gobbin said, quote, I find that the
01:18defendant's security systems fell short and below the standard that was required
01:23and the claimant is entitled to judgment, end quote. The vibration sensors, she said,
01:29failed to pick up what must have been unusually significant vibrations. The
01:34motion sensors failed to pick up movements of at least three persons who
01:39were in the bank for almost three hours using heavy equipment, she says, quote,
01:44the absence of live monitoring in the context of what might be considered
01:48reasonable in the current environment of Trinidad and Tobago and at the time of
01:53the heist pointed to a failure to provide adequate security in the
01:57circumstances, end quote. Gobbin also says it was inexcusable to not have
02:02vibration sensors and motion sensors in the vault itself. Damages will be
02:08determined by the court at a later date. This now paves the way for at least 10
02:13others to mount similar action against the bank for compensation for their lost
02:18items. The defendant, Republic Bank was represented by Cobin Garcia, senior
02:23counsel and Tonya Rowley or Vichy to worry. Rupnerein TV six News
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