A man stole thousands of dollars from the bank he worked for as a security man restocking ATMs, a court heard.

Charles Blake Simmons pleaded guilty in Magistrates' Court yesterday to stealing $2,400 from the Bank of Butterfield. He also admitted stealing a bank debit card.

Seven separate charges of stealing bank cards were also taken into consideration with the defendant accepting culpability.

Simmons, 39, of Gatehouse Lane, Sandys, stole the cash and cards while a member of the bank's Mobile Security Team.

Crown counsel Cindy Clarke said the Bank of Butterfield brought the matter to Police attention in March 2006 after staff noticed cash going missing during the restocking of the bank's Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

She said: "Cash amounts ranging from $1,000 to in excess of $4,000 were being stolen on a regular basis.

"The bank was unable to pinpoint the person responsible for the thefts, although suspicion fell on the three regular members of the Mobile Security Team (MST) who were responsible for transporting the fully loaded cash canisters to the bank's ATMs Island-wide.

"Suspicion fell on them due to the fact that a security weakness had been identified regarding the cash canisters. Once in possession of the full cash canisters, a member of the team was able to manually open one end and remove a quantity of bank notes. The canister could then be 'reset' and placed into the ATM as normal due to the fact that the bank allowed the team to carry a 'reset' key in their vehicle.

"It meant any theft would not be detected until a week later when the canisters were recovered by the team and returned to the main cash vault for audit."

Ms Clarke said Fraud officers devised a sting operation, loading the canisters with new Bermuda Monetary Authority $50 notes. The serial numbers and ATM schedule were monitored and the officers would make withdrawals after the team visited each ATM. From the cash withdrawn, the officers would check the serial numbers to see whether any cash had been stolen from the canisters.

During the five-week operation, a discrepancy was discovered — on May 4, 2006. The team was arrested in Dockyard and Police found six $50 notes stolen earlier in the day in Simmons's possession.

On his arrest, he admitted more stolen cash was hidden behind a panel in his car's passenger footwell.

Police found 41 $50 notes in the car, amounting to $2,050. Officers also found eight 'Butterfield Card' debit cards which had been retained by various ATMs.

The two other members of the MST "vehemently denied" any involvement.

Ms Clarke said: "They stated that Simmons regularly engineered opportunities for himself to be left alone in the cash truck, thereby affording himself the opportunity to steal. He would also visit his own car each morning to move it, giving him the opportunity to secrete any stolen cash in his vehicle.

"Along with the theft of $2,400 on May 4, five other thefts occurred during the Police operation, totalling $12,980."

Charles Richardson, defending, called for a Social Inquiry Report. He said: "The defendant does not have any previous convictions."

Simmons will be sentenced on July 31.