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Bieber concert robbery an 'inside job'

Johannesburg - A cash heist that took place at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg shortly after the Justin Bieber concert there on Sunday night was an inside job, police said.

The carefully orchestrated heist went ahead without the robbers being detected, and police estimated on Monday that as much as R3m was stolen.

"It is alleged that [a stadium employee] had locked money in the walk-in safe following the Justin Bieber concert and left for home last night at about 23:00," said Lieutenant Colonel Katlego Mogale.

The FNB Stadium had played to back-to-back concerts on the weekend with Bon Jovi also performing live on Saturday night.

Millions were stolen from a company renting space from Stadium Management to sell refreshments and merchandise to 150 000 concertgoers on both nights, reports TimesLive.

Stadium Management CEO Jacques Grobbelaar said 4 000 people were brought in to manage Sunday's concert - from security guards to ushers and production staff - and police had narrowed down the list of suspects to "60 to 70 people".

PHOTOS: Justin Bieber live in Johannesburg

"I can't see this as an external operation," Grobbelaar told TimesLive. "Even I'm not entirely sure of where the strongroom in which the money was stored is. It was chosen because it is out of eyeshot," he added.

One of the police officers described the safe as state-of-the-art and "incredibly secure".

"It is not something you walk up to and say: 'Open sesame' ... The only way to crack these kind of safes is with specialised tools or, in this case, angle- grinders."

Security experts are questioning why the cash was not immediately counted and collected by cash-in-transit companies on the night, as is usually the case at large events.

Big Concerts managing director Justin van Wyk said it could not comment yet owing to concerns for the safety of its staff.
 
According to Sapa, Mogale said video footage of the robbery was being applied for and an investigation was underway.

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