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Man's £150,000 Life Savings Robbed Just Seconds After Being Withdrawn

Man's £150,000 Life Savings Robbed Just Seconds After Being Withdrawn

Francisco Cornejo had his life savings stolen from him as he left a Chase Bank in Huntington Park, California last week.

Daisy Phillipson

Daisy Phillipson

Picture this: you've spent years working your socks off, building up a healthy nest egg. You finally go to retrieve your hard-earned cash, daydreaming about all the ways you're going to invest your money, only for a thief to snatch it from your hands and run off in the blink of an eye.

That was the unfortunate situation faced by Francisco Cornejo, who had $200,000 (more than £150,000) stolen from him as he left a Chase Bank in Huntington Park, California last week.

Video footage shows the moment the thief, who is dressed all in black, attacks Cornejo and beats him to the ground.

In the space of a few seconds, the cash is snatched from Cornejo's hands and, despite the victim shouting for help as car alarms go off, no one steps in to help - and the culprit gets away.

ABC7

The Metro reports that Cornejo had in fact sold his home, leaving him with a healthy lump sum in his bank account. But just seconds after withdrawing the money, it was stolen from him in ruthless fashion.

Speaking about the incident, his lawyer Nathan Soleimani said: "He was parked as closely as possible to the bank, knowing he was going to withdraw a large amount of cash.

"As soon as he got to his car, before he was able to get to his car, he was grabbed and beaten."

The lawyer added: "He was literally fighting for his life savings. And when he was being beaten he was doing his best to try and retain the bag that he brought with him."

Thankfully, a team of investigators are looking into the CCTV footage from the bank, and the FBI is even involved in the search. Chase Bank is also working with law enforcement in the race to retrieve the guy's savings.

ABC7

Here's hoping they can track the thief down and bring justice to Cornejo, who has been left battered and bruised by the incident.

"Thank God he's alive. His family is grateful he got out of it with just the injuries that he has," Soleimani said.

"At the end of the day, they're thankful for him being here."

Anyone who can provide information in relation to the attack is asked to get in touch with Huntington Park Police Department. So if you're on the other side of the pond and you know something, you know what to do. #JusticeForCornejo

Featured Image Credit: ABC 7

Topics: US News, crime