Robin Hoods gone wild

Two supposedly well-meaning criminals wreaking havoc in the name of the do-gooding hero made headlines this week. The first, Benedict Hancock was found guilty and sentenced to 18 months of jail time today. Without authorization, the 39-year-old banker had transferred millions of pounds from the accounts of rich clients to those of poor ones because, ...

592478_080919_RobinBank5.jpg
592478_080919_RobinBank5.jpg

Two supposedly well-meaning criminals wreaking havoc in the name of the do-gooding hero made headlines this week.

Two supposedly well-meaning criminals wreaking havoc in the name of the do-gooding hero made headlines this week.

The first, Benedict Hancock was found guilty and sentenced to 18 months of jail time today. Without authorization, the 39-year-old banker had transferred millions of pounds from the accounts of rich clients to those of poor ones because, as his lawyer put it, he “wanted them to do well.” Oddly enough, he hails from Nottinghamshire, England, just like the folklore hero.

The second, a Spaniard who refers to himself as “Robin Bank,” is still at large. Enric Duran duped 39 banks into loaning him almost half a million euros (710,000 dollars), which he used to finance his an anti-globalization publication, Crisi (Crisis). Yesterday, Duran freely distributed 200,000 copies of the magazine, in which he detailed his scheme.

“What could be better than robbing the ones who rob us and distributing the money among the groups which are denouncing this situation and building alternatives?,” he asked in the issue. You can also check out his Spanish Catalan-language video here:

He also said that he’d given away all the money to social activists and vowed never to return the sum. In a final hat tip to Robin Hood, Duran dared the banks to have Spanish authorities jail him.

Suffice it to say there were a lot of cranky bankers out there this week.

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