Blundering G4S guard leaves loaded shotgun by Hong Kong cash machine
Second major mishap in two months for security firm follows cash spill on Christmas Eve
PUBLISHED : Monday, 09 February, 2015, 3:17am
UPDATED : Monday, 09 February, 2015, 11:00am
Samuel Chan [email protected]
A Remington shotgun similar to the one found propped next to cash machine by a G4S security officer.
Embattled security services firm G4S yesterday made its second blunder in less than two months after a guard left a fully loaded shotgun beside an automatic teller machine in Shek Kip Mei.
At about 7am, a guard was seen leaving a Remington shotgun next to the ATM in Nam Shan Estate. The weapon was later retrieved by the firm.
G4S, a British firm, saw its share price plunge after a Christmas Eve cash spill in Wan Chai. Drivers and pedestrians rushed to grab the cash after the rear door of a G4S vehicle transporting HK$270 million slid open.
More than HK$7.1 million of the HK$15.23 million which spilled onto busy Gloucester Road remains missing five weeks after the incident.
A G4S spokeswoman confirmed yesterday's incident and said the gun had been retrieved. She said an internal probe had already started, but there was no information on how long the gun was left unattended and the reason for the blunder.
"The employee involved will not be assigned any work duties before the internal investigation is completed," she said, adding that the company would release an initial update today.
Four employees - one driver, and three guards including one armed with a Remington - were sent out yesterday morning. The company said it would investigate whether anyone apart from the armed employee had failed to follow standard procedures.
The company reported the incident to the police after the gun was retrieved. It is helping the police with their investigation. A police officer was seen inspecting the scene yesterday afternoon.
A police spokesman said last night that the force would follow up on the matter.
In a similar incident in June 2013, a G4S guard forgot his Remington during a regular inspection of an ATM in Sha Tin. The gun was retrieved later on the same day.
The 21-year-old guard involved was arrested afterwards for failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the company's licence.
G4S came under scrutiny in 2012 when it announced on the eve of the London Olympics that it would not be able to provide the full number of security staff it had been contracted for.
A G4S vehicle transporting cash for the Bank of China also lost HK$15.23 million on Christmas Eve last year, after boxes of money fell out the rear door and onto a highway in Wan Chai. Security officers riding in the front only realised the blunder after they got to Kowloon.
The cash spill quickly attracted nearby opportunists, who flocked to the scene to help themselves to the money.
Forty-six people have voluntarily returned HK$7.92 million since police launched a public appeal to retrieve the money, saying those who handed in the cash would avoid prosecution.
Some HK$7.1 million is still missing, according to police, and several people who picked up cash were arrested and sentenced to several months in jail.
Correction: A previous version of this article identified the weapon as a rifle. It is a shotgun.
