Albanian Bank Society blames State Police for €2,7m cash robbery

Tirana, Albania | Tirana Echo – The Albanian Bank Society has pointed the finger at the State Police for failing to guarantee security during the transport of €2,7m Euros of a private bank which were spectacularly robbed last Friday on the Tirana Airport road.

The huge sum of money belonging to Banka Kombetare Tregtare (BKT) was stolen after an ambush of a private security escort transporting the money from BKT headquarters to the International Aiport of Albania.

In a statement referring to the robbery the Bank Society said that it is not the responsibility of banks to ensure security during the transport of cash liqudity.

“Transport services of bank liquidity are carried out according to Bank of Albania regulation Nr. 67. Banks are responsible only for the physical security within their premises, to secure their buildings and safety deposits as well as to hire a private security contractor licenced to transport monetary deposits in the country. It has been 7 months that the Bank Society has requested authorities to clarify the regulatory framework in which monetary liquidity is transported, which has yet to be completed” – said the statement.

The Bank Society added that it welcomes the state police accompanying private security transporters which have been subject to several robberies in past years.

The statement raises questions about the reasons of a vacuum in the legal framework surrounding the transport of huge sums of cash from private banks to the airport. This is the 4th robbery in 24 months while banks and inssurance companies are getting increasingly nervous about the lack of security during the transport of money.

During a visit at the special police force ‘Renea’, Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri said that “the police will do its job and find the authors of this robbery, as it has done with previous ones”.

Meanwhile the opossition Democratic Party has accused the Prime Minister and the Interior Ministry of failing to guarantee security for Albanian citizens while “crime is dominating Albania’s streets”.