Bank robbery attempt thwarted in east Amman

AMMAN — Police on Monday said an officer thwarted an attempt to rob a bank in east Amman earlier in the day.

“An unidentified man entered a bank carrying a gun when, coincidently, a Public Security Department (PSD) officer happened to be at the facility,” Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi, noting that, the suspect fled the scene when he saw the police officer.

Sartawi said the incident is currently under investigation and “police are still searching for the suspect”.

Meanwhile, a man was arrested in connection with the armed robbery of a bank in an eastern neighbourhood of the capital on Sunday, Sartawi said.

The suspect had reportedly entered the bank and “pointed a gun at one of the employees before escaping with an undisclosed amount of cash,” the police official said.

A few hours later, the suspect was arrested by a special team that was tasked to follow up on the incident, according to a PSD statement. 

“The special taskforce was able to identify the suspect and he was arrested,” the statement said, adding that upon searching the house of the suspect, agents found “JD13,240 and a plastic gun”.

Sunday’s armed robbery is the ninth incident that targeted financial institutes in the Kingdom since the beginning of the year, with some cases involving armed robbers, while other robbers used fake weapons for intimidation.

Seven of the nine robbers were arrested so far, while two suspects, who escaped with over JD105,000 in cash from two banks in the Wihdat neighbourhood and in Irbid, remain at large.

In April, Interior Minister Samir Mubaidin described the robbery cases on banks and money exchange shops as “worrying”, noting that they had become a “public concern”.

Mubaidin made his remarks during a meeting with stakeholders to discuss procedures to be taken to prevent bank robberies.

The minister stressed that bank robberies cannot be considered security faults, especially as security apparatuses always support security staff at banks. He stressed that some banks have not committed to security plans that were designed and approved after several meetings organised by the Interior Ministry with bank stakeholders.