Robin Hood Junior German Boy Nicks Granny's Bank Card to Buy Candy
A seven-year-old German boy indulged his sweet tooth and liberally handed out money after helping himself to his elderly grandmother's bank account. But the police eventually arrived to spoil the fun for this underage Robin Hood and his jolly schoolmates.
How many jelly beans can I get for €500?
As befits his age, the seven-year-old first bought some sweets. But then -- not knowing how to spend the rest of the money -- the boy was overcome with a generosity that prompted him to press bank notes into the hands of some of his playmates.
Police in the western city of Aachen, where the boy lives, explained on Tuesday how he had learned to use a bank machine -- as well as the card's PIN number -- by accompanying his 80-year-old grandmother on shopping trips. During a recent visit, he pocketed one of her bank cards and made his way to a nearby ATM, where he made five withdrawals over an hour -- until the withdrawal limit had been reached.
The boy's unsuspecting granny had no inkling of her grandson's largesse until police officers came knocking on her door. The factor that appears to have led to his capture was his own spontaneous generosity. When the youngsters who had taken cuts of the loot told their parents about the money, they immediately alerted the police.
The boy unwittingly eluded capture for several days because his playmates had no idea what his last name was. But after a credit institution notified the police about an unusual series of withdrawals, the authorities were finally able to track down the account's owner.
Once questioned, the boy immediately confessed to his juvenile crime and apologized to his grandmother. He then emptied his piggy bank, where he had stashed the left-over cash, and handed it back -- along with some money his granny had given him a few weeks earlier as a reward for a good school report. Roughly half of it had been spent on candy and lavished on friends.
In a statement, Aachen police said the boy had told officers that "he wanted to get money out of the machine and go shopping just like his grandmother." And when his grandmother handed money to other people, the boy said, "they were always so happy."
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