Toy gun vs recession: Portuguese man robs bank to buy medicine
A Portuguese man has turned to crime, struggling to make ends meet. Laid off after three decades of honest labor, robbing a bank was a last desperate measure, RT's Peter Oliver reports in his footage.
“I needed a few hundred euros for medication. Also we had no
food at home. This is what I bought with the money that was stolen.
I took about a thousand euros,” Augusto Costa told RT.
Costa turned to crime after he couldn't afford to pay the
medical bills for his now ex-wife who suffers from Multiple
Sclerosis.
Today Costa is a convicted bank robber.
He chose his bank branch as the target, blaming them and
Portugal government for what happened to him.
“They robbed me, so I robbed them. I'm not proud, but I think
the state forced me into this position,” Costa explained his
actions.
In the interview to RT’s Peter Oliver, Costa spoke about the day
when he took a toy plastic gun and headed to his bank. Watch full
report from Lisbon.