Police arrested on Saturday a 29-year-old security company employee who drove off with 9.7 million riyals (approx. $2.5 million) in cash destined for bank ATM outlets. The security van guard and a colleague had stopped at a Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) branch in Madina, and when his colleague left the vehicle to enter the premises he took the opportunity to speed off with the cash haul inside. Alerted to the theft, police quickly located the van in a district of Madina and traced the suspect heading toward Yanbu, and within four hours of the first reports an arrest was made at the house of one of his relatives. “Stepped-up security along the way led to a swift arrest,” said Fahd Al-Ghanam, acting spokesman of Madina Police. According to Al-Ghanam, the suspect later confessed to the theft and the money was recovered Sunday. Al-Watan newspaper reported that the suspect was a Saudi national who had joined the security company only seven days previously, and was wanted by police in Riyadh for acts of fraud.
