Jewellery in safety deposit box gone missing
17 July 2012 6:04 PM
A couple claims to have lost 45 jewellery pieces, worth at least $40,000, which they placed in a safety deposit box, says Lianhe Wanbao.
Tan Quan Gen, a 59 year-old maintenance manager, and his wife Feng You Zhen, a 59 year-old housewife, found that the jewellery that they placed in a Certis Cisco safety deposit box was missing when they went to deposit some important documents in the same box at noon on 11 July.
Mr Tan said that when they opened their safety deposit box, they found, to their horror, that the metal box that held their jewellery was missing. He said that the blue coloured box was usually placed in the deeper end of the safety deposit box. Mr Tan immediately notified security.
He said the box contained 45 bracelets, earrings and necklaces that his wife had bought, as well as jewellery that had been given to them by relatives, and a medal he was awarded for long service in his job. These items have been in this safety deposit box at Paya Lebar Certis Cisco Centre for the last seven years.
“I would have nothing to say if a burglar entered our house and took these items from us. However, I cannot accept that they are missing from a safety deposit box,” Ms Feng said.
According to her, a lot of the jewellery pieces were bought before she got married. One of them was handed down to her from her mother. And while the jewellery is estimated to be worth over $40,000, with the current high gold prices, the actual loss could be greater.
The police said they are currently investigating the matter.
A spokesperson from Certis Cisco said they are assisting the police in the investigation. The person emphasised that strict security measures are in place to safeguard safety deposit boxes in the company. Clients who wish to access their deposit boxes have to have their identity verified and two keys are required to open each box. One key is held by the client, and the other by a Cisco staff.
The spokesperson added that in order to protect the privacy of its clients, staff do not know the contents of the boxes.
Typically, security companies do not ask clients about the contents of their boxes or for a valuation of the items inside. However, this also means that it is hard to determine what gets deposited and withdrawn from the boxes.
Certis Cisco security deposit boxes are said to be more popular than those offered by banks, as Cisco does not require their customers to put down a rental deposit for the boxes.
