Court upholds 10-year sentence for armed bank robbery in Jordan

The Court of Cassation has upheld a ruling against an individual who managed to steal JD76,000 from a local bank branch in the Al-Wehdat area while threatening employees with a firearm. The defendant has been sentenced to 10 years of temporary hard labor.

In March 2024, the State Security Court convicted the offender of committing acts that endangered public safety and security, disrupted public order, instilled terror among people, and threatened economic resources, as well as armed robbery against the bank.

According to the ruling, in January 2018, the defendant, seeking to obtain money unlawfully, devised a plan to rob a bank branch in the Al-Wehdat area. He equipped himself with a pistol, a hat, and a black mask (women’s stockings) and approached the bank to assess the building and plan his entry, exit, and the robbery itself.

On the morning of the incident, the defendant entered the bank, brandished the firearm at the cashier, and threatened him, along with other employees and customers, demanding that the cashier fill a black bag he had with the money from the bank’s vault.

The ruling indicated that under the threat of the weapon, and the ensuing terror experienced by the cashier, employees, and customers present, the bank staff complied, filling the bag with JD76,000  before the robber fled the scene.

In December 2021, the suspect was apprehended. Upon reviewing surveillance footage from the bank and surrounding area, investigators compared images of the suspect with those recorded during the robbery and confirmed he was the same individual. During questioning, he confessed to the crime.