Portugal’s biggest bank robber yet, on the run since escaping prison in March, has been recaptured by police after he returned to the country to rent a home, police and reports said on Tuesday.
Police said they detained Manuel Simoes, who netted more than €500 000 (R3,91-million) in 29 bank robberies carried out between 1998 and 2000, on Monday in the central city of Viseu and returned him to the prison where he was carrying out his sentence.
The 56-year-old was in Portugal, after spending time in Poland and France where he once lived, to rent a house he owns, daily newspaper Correio da Manha reported, citing police sources.
He had been under police surveillance for a month, it said.
Nicknamed “The Loner” because he always carried out his robberies on his own, he was first arrested last year.
A court subsequently sentenced Simoes to 21 years behind bars, but the punishment was reduced by six years on appeal.
Portuguese media dubbed him a robber “with class” because of his habit of apologising to bank tellers during his heists. — AFP