Bank heist ‘folk hero’ Tony Musulin jailed for 3 years

Tony Musulin, the bank robber dubbed France's Robin Hood after he made off with almost €12 million, has been jailed for three years following a one-day trial. In a surprising twist to his story, Musulin told the court he was no modern-day folk hero bent on breaking the banks but simply a disgruntled worker who wanted revenge on his boss.
 
Musulin, a 39-year-old French security guard from Lyon, became an internet sensation when he made off with €11.6m in his van last November. He was driving the money to the Banque de France when he decided to abscond with it. He was hailed as an anti-hero for striking a blow to the financial establishment by pulling off his audacious bank heist without anyone being injured.
 
However, when Musulin took the stand on Tuesday – seven months since turning himself into police in Monaco after an 11-day Europe-wide manhunt - he said he had been motivated, not by political altruism, but personal revenge.
 
"People told me I was Robin Hood, but I'm not, I'm normal," he told the Lyon court. "I had a problem with my boss."
 
He added: "It's always the little guys who have to take it, so I decided to rebel. It was not the right choice."
 
Although police found €9.1m of the money in a lock-up under his name, the remaining €2.5m has never been discovered. Speaking at his trial Musulin insisted that he did not know where the rest of the money was.
 
Musulin, a former driver for the Swedish security firm Loomis, claimed he was "not respected" by his old employer. He had put himself in danger for Loomis every day for 10 years, he said, but still earned less than €2,000 a month.
 
He had not planned the heist but decided on the day that he had had enough. "I respect the law but at a certain moment I crossed over to the other side because of all these injustices."
 
The three-year sentence handed down to Musulin on Tuesday evening may not sound a lot for stealing such a huge sum but it is the maximum penalty in France for a crime of this sort where there is no violence. His lawyer had asked for a suspended sentence, while many of his internet fans had called for him to be dealt with leniently.
 
Musulin could yet face more time in jail, however. He was also convicted of insurance fraud relating to the 2009 theft of his Ferrari sports car, which could earn him a five-year jail term. ·