In an strange court case, an Egyptian man has been sentenced to 1,000 years in prison after being convicted of laundering over 280 million Egyptian pounds ($52 million). Abdullah Kamel Mohamed, 42, was handed the sentence by a Giza court for scamming at least 480 people out of their money for several years, a court official said.

“He would promise people that he would invest their money for them and bring them good profits, but he would take the money and disappear,” an official close to the case said in comments carried by AFP.

“Over the years, he made 280 million pounds,” the official added.

In a nation struggling with economic progress that has yet to trickle down to the majority of the population, Mohamed used this as a means of getting people to give him their life’s savings with the promise of a better future.

He was arrested in Cairo last November after a neighbor recognized him as the man who had conned him and called the police.

It is unclear whether Mohamed will be eligible for parole.

The “Barbie bandits” who went on a shopping spree and had their hair done after they were videotaped wearing sunglasses and laughing during an $11,000 bank heist have been sentenced in the US.

Ashley Miller, 19, will have to serve only two years of a 10-year sentence and must complete the rest on probation. She pleaded guilty to theft and drug charges.

Heather Johnston, also 19, was sentenced to 10 years’ probation for her role in the February 2007 heist in Acworth, northwest of Atlanta in Georgia.

The two were caught on tape as they appeared to rob a Bank of America branch in a supermarket. They admitted to plotting with a teller to take the money and later going on a shopping binge that included a stop in a fashionable hair salon.

Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley urged Miller to learn from her crimes.

“I want you to correct yourself,” Staley told Miller, a former exotic dancer. “There’s no reason you can’t become a productive citizen when you get out of jail.”

Miller’s mother and sister hugged and kissed her before deputies led her out of the courtroom.

Benny Allen - who worked at the bank as a teller - was sentenced to 10 years, to serve five.

The judge imposed an additional penalty on Allen because she said he did not testify truthfully in the trial of Michael Chastang, a co-defendant convicted of his role in plotting the heist. Chastang is to be sentenced on Tuesday.

Johnston was the first of the group to plead guilty, speeding up the prosecution of her co-defendants.

During her sentencing hearing, Johnston took the witness stand and between sobs apologised for hurting and embarrassing her family and friends.

“A lot of people look down on me,” Johnston said. “I feel terrible. I want to set a good example for my little sister. She’s a great kid. I don’t want her to end up like me.”