A Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) has been ordered to pay compensation of 136,000 euros to a couple who lost their valuables from a safe in Góis, Coimbra district, following a robbery at a local branch.
The decision was recently upheld by the Supreme Court of Justice, after the Court of Appeal in Coimbra had previously increased the initial compensation from 106,000 euros by 30,000 euros, citing non-material damages.
The verdict explains that the incident occurred in July 2013, when the couple withdrew 100,000 euros from their bank account and deposited it in the bank’s safe on the same day. CGD contended there was no proof of the deposit, but the judges determined there was serious fault on the bank’s part.
The ruling stated that on the night of the robbery in July 2018, the bank neglected basic responsibilities of care and surveillance, resulting in significant blame and the obligation to compensate the clients for the theft of their safe deposit box contents, amid poor security conditions.
After the alarm was triggered, the National Republican Guard arrived at the branch, observing only the entrance and reporting nothing unusual to CGD. The judgment highlighted that no security company or bank employee was dispatched to check the anomaly and prevent its consequences, despite CGD’s heightened duty of diligence.
The burglars accessed the agency through a metal door at the rear, which had only a standard lock, leading to the conclusion that the door lacked adequate security to prevent the burglary.
They then passed through another wooden door, with a simple lock and without any grating, which allowed easy access, entering the agency through it.
Inside, unlike the room housing the agency’s safe, which was protected by a grated iron door, the private safes’ access door was less robust. The burglars forced open the metal cabinet containing about 40 rental drawer safes used by clients and took all the money the plaintiffs had stored and deposited there, as detailed in the judgment.
The amount stolen was never disclosed. The group was convicted in 2019.
