| Attila Ambrus | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 6, 1967 Fitod, Transylvania, Romania |
| Other names | Whisky Robber |
| Title | Robber |
Attila Ambrus is notorious for committing a string of robberies in Hungary. He was born in a Székely Hungarian family in Fitod, a small village in eastern Transylvania, Romania, right outside Miercurea Ciuc.
Ambrus had trouble with the law from a young age for committing petty thefts. In 1988, Ambrus illegally crossed Romania's borders by riding underneath a freight train and applied for political asylum and citizenship in Hungary, the latter of which he obtained in 1994.
Ambrus made a living through a variety of odd jobs, including being a gravedigger and a pelt smuggler, after which he tried out for the professional hockey team Újpesti TE. Despite his abysmal performance, he was admitted to the roster as goalie while doubling as the team's janitor. Ambrus's income continued to be insecure as he worked a variety of side jobs, and he committed his first robbery of a post office in 1993. After this success, Ambrus continued a string of 27 robberies of banks, post offices, and travel agents that ended with his arrest in 1999, stealing in all about 100 million forints (about half a million US Dollars).
He became known as the Whisky Robber, because he was often seen drinking whiskey at a nearby pub prior to the robbery. While he later carried a gun, Ambrus never harmed anyone in his robberies, and was famous for his outlandish disguises, for presenting female tellers with flowers prior to robberies, and for sending the police bottles of wine. Immensely popular at the time of his arrest on January 15, 1999, a flag honoring the "Whiskey Robber" was flown at the UTE stadium for years afterwards.
Ambrus escaped on July 10, using a rope made of shredded sheets, electric cords, and shoe laces. He evaded police custody for three months while living in a downtown Budapest apartment and was caught again after another robbery when police located his hideout. Ambrus is currently serving a 17-year sentence in a maximum security prison.
His accomplice on one of his earlier heists, Károly Antal (also a Romanian of Hungarian ethnicity) was caught at the Romanian-Hungarian border in 2004 and was sentenced to two and a half years of prison. His accomplice on most of his latter heists, Gabi Orbán, is serving an eight-year sentence in a medium security prison.
The story of the Ambrus has been made the subject of a book, Ballad of the Whiskey Robber (ISBN 0-316-01073-1) by Julian Rubinstein, and a Hungarian cabaret. A screenplay of the book written by Clifford Thurlow and writer-director György Dobray, went into production in 2011. Based on Ambrus' adventures, the film stars Luke Goss, Jonas Armstrong and Andrea Osvárt. The film is produced by Kornél Sipos and Bill Chamberlain with music by Mike Moran..