Stolen cash returned to bank robber

Bank manager Otto Neuman embezzled ?150,000 in cash and gold from the Erste Bank in Vienna in 1993. He covered up the theft by having accomplices stage a robbery. Of the total, only ?51,000 and some gold was recovered when police arrested Neuman. The gold went to the insurer, and the cash was kept as evidence for 19 years. Now, the Austrian Justice Ministry is returning the money to Neuman! The insurer compensated the bank for its loss, the gold had appreciated so much in the intervening years that the insurer suffered no loss in the long run, and the ministry feels it has no claim on the cash.