Theft from S. Sudan President's Office Inside Job?

South Sudanese investigators say a spate of thefts from the office of President 

Salva Kiir could have been an inside job.

JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN — A spate of alleged thefts from the office of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir may have been an inside job, officials investigating how tens of thousands of dollars went missing from Kiir's office said Monday.

Some $70,000 U.S. that was kept in the president's office to pay staff who do not have bank accounts, along with two laptops, went missing from Kiir's office in the space of a week in March, Justice John Gatwech Lul, who led the investigation, said.

“The burglary took place allegedly through a hole dug into the office," Lul said.

"During the second theft, which took place just about seven days after the first one, 32,374 South Sudanese pounds were stolen from a cash box.  There was one cash box among others that was just picked up and taken away, leaving some of the boxes where there was little money.”

Lul said negligence on the part of three officials, including the executive director of Kiir's office, Yel Luol Koor, made it more difficult for the investigative team to find out what happened.

The  office of the president did not report that the money or laptops were missing until after the second robbery because they were more concerned about how the public would react when they found out than they were about stopping the robberies

None of the missing money has been recovered.

The president's office has been reorganized to improve security and accounting procedures since the money went missing, government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin said.

The government "will take legal measures" against any suspects who are apprehended, Marial said.