Donegal bank thief caught by Dublin airport policeman

A vigilant Dublin airport policeman this week spotted and arrested a bank thief who struck twice in Donegal in a fortnight.
Rindas Horobas’ picture was taken by CCTV cameras when he conned money out of cashiers at the AIB branches in Donegal town and Bundoran in June.
He disappeared but when he returned Tuesday after a visit to his brother in Brussels a Dublin Airport policeman recognised him as a wanted person.
Romanian Horobas who appeared in Donegal District Court and admitted theft of €1,470 by deceiving cashiers in the two branches.
The court heard the 21-year-old father of two, with an address in Mondea Drive, Firhouse, Tallaght, Dublin, had a number of previous theft convictions and had served time in jail.
Judge Kevin Kilrane fined him €5,000 and ordered that if it wasn’t paid today Horobas was to go to jail for 18 months.
Judge Kilrane was told how Horobas set about confusing staff at two banks when he sought to change sterling into euro and back into sterling again.
With a succession of swift requests when he was changing the money he escaped from the two branches leaving a total shortfall of €1,470 while staff were still counting the bundles of euro he left them.
Gda Lorenz Nicholson told how Horobas went up to the counter of AIB in Donegal town on June 15 with £1,300 sterling in a series of transactions changing the money to euro and back to sterling again he left the bank with a shortfall of €620 which wasn’t discovered until later.
Two weeks later Horobas entered AIB in Bundoran left them €850 short in a similar transaction..
Rincas’ father handed in €2,000 compensation in court. The banks were paid their €1,470 and the remainder went to Mohill Tidy Towns Committee.
The €5,000 fine wasn’t available to the family in the Donegal court and Judge Kilrane said he would hold a special sitting at Carrick-on-Shannon District Court later today to give the defence an opportunity to raise the cash if Horobas wanted to avoid 18 months in jail.
The €5,000 fine was produced in Carrick-on-Shannon this afternoon and Horobas was released to rejoin his family.