Ronnie Leibowitz

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Ronnie Leibowitz is a former Israeli bank robber, nicknamed Ofnobank (a combination of the words motorcycle and bank in Hebrew), due to his theft methods. In English he is often called the Motorcycle Bandit.

During the year 1990, Ronnie Leibowitz robbed 21 bank branches, mostly in the Tel Aviv area, by using a motorcycle (an Italian MotoGuzzi) to enter and escape banks, and then hiding the motorcycle in a truck that was prepred for that purpose in advance. The Israel Police investigators, searching for a runaway motorcycle and not a truck, were unable to locate him. The mass media "crowned" him as the "Motorcycle Bandit". Only after 21 robberies took place, Leibowitz was caught by police.

When questioned, Leibowitz admitted to all his bank robberies and cooperated fully with his police investigators. Just a few days after his capture, he returned all the robbed money. The district court sentenced him to 20 years in prison, but after Leibowitz appealed to the supreme court, his sentence was reduced to 14 years (after the prosecution agreed to this reduction as well).

[edit] The verdict

In his verdict, the deputy president of the Supreme Court of Israel, the Hon. Menachem Elon stated his conciderations for the sentence reduction:

The district court judges recognized the appellant confession and deep regrets, but doubted his sincerity, that was their regrettable mistake. The report we were served by the probation officer, which the district court never recived, outlined in minutest details the appellant's complicated and very complex life story and his deepest remorse. And should the plaintiff will claim, that such regrets was shown before and it is all but exclusive to the appellant in question, here come the appellant before us, and combined the deed of return the robbed money to his deep regret both by word and by heart. The means for the purpose of returen the robbed money will come out of the money that will be recived after selling his house. I sat in court in the cases of many strange and different robbers, and never before brought before me a bank robber, which within days from his confession and regret expression, return all the robbed money to it’s lawful owners, along with personal letter to each bank branch in which he expresse his deepest and most profound regrets, and try to explain why he performed his wrong-doings.

At the time of the robberies, Ronny Leibowitz was the most popular figure in Israel by mocking the banks and the police (both subjects of anger by Israeli citizens).