UPDATED: After noticing ATMs consistently out of order at Xtra Marts around the area, I asked a cashier what the deal was. He told this story, said to be from someone who services the machines:
“The guy who owns the ATM company stole, like, 50 million bucks. They caught him, but they’re calling back all the cash ’til they sort it out.”
“The guy” was said to be in his mid-60s... However, another (more authoritative) source has since told this site that the theft may have involved the owner/operator of an armored car company servicing the machines taking cash—not the ATM company itself. This second source also indicates that the alleged perpetrator has a house and other business ties to Columbia County.
These being second and third-hand stories—which have yet to make it into the area press—they should be treated strictly as rumors whose details require verification. Or maybe someone would rather the word didn’t get into print.
UPDATE #2: The Connecticut and Delaware business press carried a story in February which matches up with some of the particulars of the above, which if it is the same alleged crime would suggest that this went well beyond Xtra Mart machines.
UPDATE #3: OK, folks, thanks for all the tips; the fuller story is now posted here.
