Money couriers charged
with faking armed robbery
Police in the Oslo area were still trying on Wednesday to track down an estimated NOK 10 million in cash, stolen in a reported armed money courier robbery that police now claim was faked.
 Investigator Einar Aas (at rear) and prosecutor Per Zimmer don't believe the couriers were victims of an armed robbery, and rather were part of it. PHOTO: MORTEN HOLM / SCANPIX This bank in Bærum was one of those hit in the alleged courier robbery. PHOTO: MORTEN HOLM/SCANPIX |
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Two couriers who claimed Tuesday that they were confronted with an armed robber and his accomplices have now been charged with taking part in the heist themselves.
Both deny having anything to do with the robbery, and continue to claim they were forced to take an armed and masked man with them on their nightly rounds in suburban Bærum and Asker. They claim they were left tied up when the robber fled with accomplices who had been following the couriers' van.
Police suspicions rose, however, when the two guards for security firm Vakt Service gave different versions of what actually happened when they were questioned separately. They remain in police custody.
Vakt Service also confirmed reports Wednesday that one of the two men, a 21-year-old resident of Buskerud County, resigned from the firm the day the alleged robbery took place. He had worked for Vakt Service for about a year, as had his 23-year-old colleague from Oslo, who's also now charged in the robbery.
Police estimate around NOK 10 million in cash (USD 2 million) was taken from night safes at Bekkestua and Rykkin in Bærum and as far away as Vikersund and Kongsberg in Buskerud County.
Police had reported shortly after the alleged robbery that money was taken from night safes in Bærum, Asker and Lier, much closer to Oslo.
They now believe several persons were involved in the heist, but they have filed no additional charges. The money hasn't been recovered.
Nina Berglund/NTB
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