Suspect in SM MOA robbery charged, hunt on for 9 others

(Updated 9:59 a.m.) One of at least 10 suspected robbers in last Sunday's jewelry store heist at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City was charged Monday, even as police pressed their hunt for his colleagues.

A report by GMA News' Marisol Abdurahman on "Saksi" said police charged Bryan Bansawan, a.k.a. Mahdi Abedin, with robbery in band for Sunday's incident.

Under the Revised Penal Code (Book Two Title Ten), Article 296 defines robbery in band as one committed by "more than three armed malefactors."?

Bansawan was also charged with frustrated homicide, attempted homicide, and illegal possession of firearms, after police recovered from him a bag with a cal-.45 pistol, a set of clothes, and a mobile phone.
 

According to the law, when the firearms used in the crime are unlicensed, the penalty on the participants "shall be the maximum of the corresponding penalty provided by law, without prejudice of the criminal liability for illegal possession of such unlicensed firearms." 

Bansawan had tried to escape by mingling with customers at an eatery in the mall, but police managed to track him down and corner him.

Pasay City police chief Senior Superintendent Florencio Ortilla said they are still looking for at least nine other suspects.

Ortilla said their initial findings showed two of the robbers acted as lookouts outside the mall.

He also said at least one of the suspects may have been wounded, after police recovered a polo shirt with marks indicating the wearer may have been hit and wounded.

The "Saksi" report cited a captured image from closed-circuit television footage indicating one of the suspects had worn the polo shirt along with black pants.

Police are now checking hospitals near the mall to see if the suspect may have sought treatment there.

Investigation also showed the robbers got P3 million from one of the two jewelry shops they robbed. It was not immediately clear how much they got from the second store.

According to police, the robbers smashed the display cases with pipe wrenches and fired shots to cause panic among the crowd.

They then took advantage of the confusion to escape, completing the heist in 20 seconds.

Meanwhile, police are now looking into how the robbers sneaked the wrenches into the mall, as hardware tools bought from stores in the shopping complex are not allowed inside the mall.

In a related development, the "Saksi" report said an employee of an establishment who was wounded in Sunday night's incident is recovering. —Joel Locsin/KG, GMA News