Briton jailed for $2.2m heist after 20 years on run

LONDON (AFP) - A British man dubbed "Fast Eddie" who spent nearly 20 years on the run in the United States was jailed on Tuesday for driving off with a security van containing 1.2 million pounds (S$2.2 million).

Eddie Maher, 57, had been a fugitive ever since the van he was driving disappeared from outside a bank in Felixstowe, eastern England, on Jan 22, 1993.

He pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court in London and was jailed for five years.

In a series of property investments which detectives said were funded by the proceeds of his crime, Maher bought a house in Colorado with US$120,000 six months after the theft, then built an 80-acre ranch before moving around various US states.