By By Chris Dade Nov 24, 2009 in Crime The former manager of a bank in a small town in Western Germany has been convicted of fraud and given a 22-month suspended sentence after she transferred money from the accounts of wealthy customers in to the accounts of customers with financial problems. According to Indeed, as the The Guardian also gives a slightly different explanation for the woman's actions, not mentioning bankruptcy, instead describing how the customers who received the money that was transferred required overdrafts that they were aware their credit status would not in normal circumstances allow. Between 2003 and 2005 the former bank manager, who could have been handed a four-year prison sentence if the court had not opted to deal with her leniently, transferred a total of €7.6 million ($11.4 million), via 117 different transactions, from the accounts of richer customers to the accounts of customers with considerably less money. However when the woman, given the name Erika B. by Bild.de, came to transfer the money back to its rightful owners she found that €1.1 million had been spent by some of the recipients of the fraudulent transactions. The actions of Erika B. were eventually exposed when she decided to provide funds to a taxi firm, her previous illegal activities having been restricted to private customers. Passing sentence on Erika B. in a regional court in Bonn the judge was mindful of the fact that she had made an immediate confession upon being discovered and had not diverted any money to her own pocket, saying: It's difficult to find an appropriate punishment here. On the one hand we have big losses. But on the other hand we have here this altruistic behaviour, which makes the case very different from the norm And Germany's "Die Robin Hood Bankerin" now faces financial difficulties of her own. She no longer has a job and reportedly no pension, and has apparently lost her property and her life insurance as she attempts to raise the money to pay the damages awarded against her. With her lawyer describing her as a "Good Samaritan", with a " I can't understand it any more. I must have had helper syndrome The 62-year-old woman, who has not been named, was the manager of a branch of the VR bank in a town, also unnamed, of 1,500 people in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.According to Bild.de , concerned about customers whose accounts with the bank were threatened with closure because they had been declared bankrupt and aware that several of her richer customers had not touched their accounts, some of which had six-figure balances, for years the woman decided to become something of a modern day Robin Hood.Indeed, as the Guardian reports, she is being called "Die Robin Hood Bankerin".The Guardian also gives a slightly different explanation for the woman's actions, not mentioning bankruptcy, instead describing how the customers who received the money that was transferred required overdrafts that they were aware their credit status would not in normal circumstances allow. Deutsche Welle further explains that by transferring the money the true extent of the financial difficulties being encountered by certain customers would not be apparent when a monthly audit of accounts was conducted.Between 2003 and 2005 the former bank manager, who could have been handed a four-year prison sentence if the court had not opted to deal with her leniently, transferred a total of €7.6 million ($11.4 million), via 117 different transactions, from the accounts of richer customers to the accounts of customers with considerably less money.However when the woman, given the name Erika B. by Bild.de, came to transfer the money back to its rightful owners she found that €1.1 million had been spent by some of the recipients of the fraudulent transactions.The actions of Erika B. were eventually exposed when she decided to provide funds to a taxi firm, her previous illegal activities having been restricted to private customers.Passing sentence on Erika B. in a regional court in Bonn the judge was mindful of the fact that she had made an immediate confession upon being discovered and had not diverted any money to her own pocket, saying:And Germany's "Die Robin Hood Bankerin" now faces financial difficulties of her own. She no longer has a job and reportedly no pension, and has apparently lost her property and her life insurance as she attempts to raise the money to pay the damages awarded against her.With her lawyer describing her as a "Good Samaritan", with a " Mother Courage " nature, Erika B. said of her actions: More about Germany, Banker, Robin hood More news from germany banker robin hood