In Chile, several laptops were stolen from the Ministry of Finance. Considered a “common robbery,” events of this kind have been repeated in recent months.
Seven laptops were stolen on Tuesday from the Ministry of Finance (IRS) of Chile without a trace.
It occurred during a meeting between Ministry officials and The Chapter Zero Foundation, which organizes meetings with members of the private sector to adapt to climate change.
According to La Tercera, the members exited the room on the 12th floor of the building at around 11 AM to take photos. Upon their return, the laptops they had left in the room were stolen by an intruder in the building.
One of the laptops was owned by the Ministry for the meeting room, another was owned by an official of the IRS, which contained Ministry information and a third notebook that was stolen was used for public use by the Budget Management department, which also contained Ministry information.
Three notebooks were stolen from Chapter Zero, as well as a wallet. Another notebook was stolen from the Ministry that had only private information.
An investigation is underway with the collection of camera footage.
But for the Minister of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, the theft is merely a “common robbery” because it was only about seven laptops, 4 of which were privately owned. He justified the case gained more visibility because it had a “particularity”, that it took place in a Ministery building.
Yet, this has been at least the third case of robbery in government buildings in the last few months.
This laptop robbery resembles a similar one from July 2023, which occurred at the Ministry of Social Development. It consisted of 23 laptops stolen, thanks to a scheme in which the guards of the ministry were called and convinced that the caller was the Minister of Social Development at the time, Giorgio Jackson, asking all of the laptops in the building to be gathered due to an emergency. Hours later, three men in white overalls picked up the parcel with all of the laptops.
The 60-year-old grandmother of the phone scammer, who lives in prison, received the computers and was placed under house arrest. The laptops were found a few hours later in a supermarket cart.
On the 25th of July, five days later, another robbery occurred in the Undersecretariat of Cultural Heritage from which two laptops were stolen.
Since then, similar events have taken place in the Judicial Assistance Corporation (CAJ), the Better Childhood Service, the Ministry of Transportation and other public departments, according to El Pais.
But not to the point for the authorities to consider that there are widespread gaps in the security of public buildings.
