Hanover, Germany - A bank manager who masterminded an armed
robbery in his own branch in Hanover and stole 367 500 euros (R5.2 million) was sentenced to three years and five months in prison by a
German court on Wednesday.
The 32-year-old was found guilty of planning the robbery with an
accomplice, who entered the bank in June 2016 with a gas pistol and a
fake hand grenade and forced another employee to open a safe
containing the cash.
The accomplice, also aged 32, was sentenced to three years and 10
months in prison.
Prosecutors had pushed for longer prison sentences, but the court
argued that the fact that the men did not have criminal records and
their admission to carrying out the crime counted in their favour.
Though investigators found evidence that the bank manager acquired
two sports cars worth 70,000 euros in the wake of the incident, most
of the 367,500 euros stolen in the robbery have not been recovered.