Police found most of the 199 million rubles ($7 million) stolen from a Vladikavkaz bank in a heist that sources said was organized by bank clerks looking to finance posh weddings.
About 149 million rubles, as well as firearms and ammunition, were found in the possession of several suspects detained in connection with the Monday robbery of the Bank of Moscow branch in the North Ossetian capital, North Ossetian Deputy Interior Minister Dmitry Kopanev said Friday, Interfax reported.
Investigators expect to find the rest of the money by Saturday, a local police spokeswoman told RIA-Novosti.
Neither official identified the suspects, but an unnamed source told Interfax earlier that two female clerks who were in the building during the robbery were detained along with the fiance of one of them.
The clerks reported being tied up by the robbers, but actually prepared the heist themselves, with the help of their relatives, unidentified investigators working on the case told Lifenews.ru.
The women intended to pay off debts and pay for weddings with the loot, the tabloid said.
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