French police charge former bank manager with robbing own bank

A former French bank manager organsied the robbery of the post office bank branch he used to run, police said Thursday, and he has been charged with abduction and extortion.

The 42 year-old man and an accomplice staged a violent heist of a post office bank in the southern French city of Toulouse in March 2012, making off with 360,000 euros. 

The pair kidnapped a former collegue on a parking lot near her house and sprayed her with tear gas to force her to comply.

The next morning they took her to open the bank's door and the safe.

They threatened her with a Taser and poured inflammable liquid on her, threatening to set her on fire if she refused to obey. 

Both men were arrested a month ago after committing another robbing another Toulouse bank using the same method - first kidnapping an employee, before going to the bank and opening the safe.

Toulouse police tracked down the former manager as they thought only a Banque Postale employee have the specific knowledge of its branches that the robbers showed.