A woman robbed of a “substantial amount of cash” in Williamstown two weeks ago was the victim of an organised crime gang alleged to have stolen almost $1 million after spraying targets with faeces or oil, police believe.
Despite the arrest of the crime gang’s alleged king-pins by Interpol in Singapore two months ago, police believe the same group was responsible for the robbery of a woman in Williamstown on April 17.
The gang uses techniques copied from South America, stealing thousands of dollars at a time from victims after distracting them by spraying oil or faeces onto their clothing, or slashing their car tyres.
In the latest attack, a woman had been seen cashing a cheque at a bank on Douglas Parade and putting the money in her handbag. She returned to her car to discover her tyres had been slashed.
When she confronted the man responsible, another man stole the cash from her handbag while she was distracted. It was the first robbery since police went public about the gang last October.
In the earlier incidents, the “very well organised” gang targeted individuals who made large withdrawals from banks or other financial institutions, such as currency exchanges in Glen Waverley, Box Hill, Clayton, Elsternwick and Brighton. Ten incidents have been reported in Melbourne since 2009.
Two robberies have also occurred in the Sydney suburb of Burwood. Nobody was injured in the incidents.
Detective Sergeant Nathan Kaeser from the Monash crime investigation unit said it appeared that the gang remained active, despite the arrest of two men in February.
It was likely the pair responsible for the latest robbery had links with the group, he said.
Images of some of the men, who are of Middle Eastern, Indian and South American appearance, were captured on bank security footage that was released last year.
Last October, Detective Sergeant Kaeser described the gang as methodical. In one case, gang members targeted an elderly man who had just withdrawn $5500 in cash from a bank in Glen Waverley.
In other thefts, the gang made off with $20,000 and $15,000 from separate victims.
On October 2, a woman and her son withdrew a large amount of money from a bank in Clayton Road, Clayton.
The pair started to drive home before they realised they had a flat tyre and pulled over on Springs Road in Clarinda.
While the son changed the tyre, the woman stood on the nature strip and was approached by a man who struck up a conversation with her.
When the woman got back into the car she realised that her handbag, containing the money she had withdrawn, was missing.
In a separate incident on September 24, an elderly victim withdrew $5500 from a bank in Glen Waverley before driving to Centro The Glen shopping centre and parking in the underground car park.
One method the gang uses is to slash the victims’ car tyres before one of the men offers to help them fix the tyre. While the driver is distracted, one of the men then steals the cash from the vehicle.
If this does not work because the victim has the cash on them in a jacket, the offenders spray the jacket while the victim changes the tyre and then steal the jacket once it is removed.
On other occasions, the victim has been distracted by the vile smell of liquid that has been sprayed on their clothing. The clothing is either removed, or the offender then offers to help clean the clothing and uses this opportunity to steal the cash.
The offenders have managed to avoid detection at banks by rotating after a few minutes so it does not appear they are loitering.
Police believe the distraction techniques are copied from those used commonly by South American thieves. Similar techniques had also been used in Europe, but was believed they were South American in origin.
Police originally had difficultly linking the crimes because they have also been reported under categories, either as thefts from vehicle or thefts from person, and had trawled through previous cases to see if more were linked to the gang.
John, a furniture store owner from Clayton, spoke last October of being robbed. He said he had withdrawn thousands of dollars from a bank on August 14.
He got a flat tyre driving home, then was approached by a man who said he had something on his jacket while he changed the tyre.
John changed the tyre and continued to his store, but took his jacket off when he went inside. Two minutes later, he came back outside and found the window smashed and his money gone.
“Since it’s happened all the staff use internet bank[ing]. No more cash,” John said. “They are very well organised.”
In one of the most daring robberies on July 4, the thieves are believed to have slashed the tyre of a woman’s vehicle as it was stopped at a red light in Glen Waverley.
The woman pulled over and a man approached her and offered to help change the tyre.
As the the woman went to the back of her car, the man grabbed her handbag and ran off with her money.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit www.crimestoppers.com.au.
