'Exchange Bandit' Sentenced to 6 Years in Toronto

Over a period of six years, Kevin John Pinto, 38, robbed at least ten banks in the Greater Toronto Area and Peel Region. Yesterday, his six-year spree netted him a six year sentence. With credit for time served Pinto is facing another 46 months in jail.

Pinto surrendered to police in October 2008. According to the Toronto Sun, he did so "after the Canadian Bankers Association posted a $10,000 reward for his capture and Toronto Police released surveillance video and photos of him committing the holdups. The photo at left is a security camera surveillance film of Pinto committing a robbery. He was dubbed the 'Exchange Bandit' on the basis of the unique and creative conversational gambit he employed. According to ctv.ca, "he would ask the teller about the exchange rate on the U.S. dollar before passing a holdup note that warned he had a gun." The notes often concluded, "don't do anything stupid." The ten robberies are believed to have netted Pinto more than $33,000. Another aspect of the 'Exchange Bandit's' modus operandi was timing. All of the robberies occurred around noon. The 'Exchange Bandit' had a full-time job and he only has the time to commit robberies on his lunch hour. Pinto had a very good job and, ironically it was in the financial services sector. Pinto was a compliance officer at Paradigm Capital. He was earning a six figure annual salary ensuring that Paradigm Capital's trading practices met all regulatory standards. He was a pin-stripped Bay Street financier. And, on his lunch break, he was a bank robber. Two different niches in the same business, the financial services sector. Pinto's lawyer argued that he was a gambling addict, wagering as much as $1,000 per day who needed addiction treatment not incarceration. The judge disagreed and stated that bank robbery "cries out for denunciation and deterrents." She sentenced Pinto to 72-months incarceration in a federal penitentiary. Pinto has been in custody for 13-months and the judge gave him two-for-one credit for that 'dead' time. Reduced by 26 months, Pinto's sentence amounts to another 46-months behind bars. Pinto also must pay $33,339 as full restitution, provide a DNA sample, and continue with gambling addiction counselling.