Winnipeg police are investigating possible $2 million theft from an ATM

Thieves may have stolen a minimum of several hundred thousand dollars or as much as C$2 million (U.S. $1.9 million) from a nonbank-owned ATM deployed in the lobby of Misericordia Health Centre, said Constable Jason Michayshen of the Winnipeg Police Service. 

"It is a large amount of money stolen from the ATM, and the theft is very significant and very concerning," said Michayshen, who added that the thefts may have occurred over as many as 10 years. He did not know the ATM brand or the name of the company that installed the machine in the hospital. Misericordia, however, owned the ATM.

 

Winnipeg police's commercial crime unit began investigating the theft in April after hospital officials hired an outside firm to audit the ATM's transactions, said Heidi Klaschka, a Misericordia spokesperson.

"Some hospital officials had expressed concern about the ATM, and we called in a firm for an external forensic audit," Klaschka said. After the audit, hospital officials alerted police. The police investigation so far has determined that thieves did not use card skimming to steal funds from the ATM, Michayshen said. None of the patients or hospital visitors who withdrew cash from the machine has reported money missing from their bank accounts, Klaschka said. Since the theft's discovery, police and hospital officials have shut down the ATM, which is now a crime scene.

The thieves may have stolen the cash while depositing the funds into the machine, Michayshen said. The crooks also could have taken the money while delivering it to a bank, he added.

Winnipeg police have not arrested any suspects, but Misericordia reportedly fired the person responsible for the ATM. Hospital officials declined to comment. Klaschka said, however, that Misericordia has tightened up all its controls since the theft's discovery.

Insurance will cover the ATM losses, said hospital officials.