When an old man noticed that money was slowly going missing from his safe, he thought he was going crazy. But it turned out that his beer buddy was robbing him.
John Rennie, a 79-year-old retiree in Cairns, Queensland, said that he feels uneasy in his home after seeing his neighbor and "mate," Phuvither Singh Taak, 47, steal from his safe on a hidden camera.
Mr. Rennie told the Cairns Post that he had known for years that money was going missing from the safe he keeps in his closet, but he didn't know how.
His confusion got so bad that one day he asked his daughter, "Am I going crazy?"
He decided to do something about it, so he put hidden cameras around his house. He was determined to find out what was going on with the money.
The next time his money went missing, right before Christmas, he was able to look at the video and finally catch the person who did it: Taak, who had been his friend for six years.
Years ago, Taak helped Mr. Rennie out because he was a good neighbor, and they've been friends ever since.
On Friday afternoons, they would often have a beer together.
But then Mr. Rennie found out what really happened: he had been tricked.
Even worse, the robbery happened while the two were at a Christmas party together. This means that Taak sneaked away to steal from his friend and then went back to the party as if nothing had happened.
He was someone I knew. The jerk is in there stealing from me when I'm not there, and when I get home, I give him a beer. Mr Rennie said.
Taak was sentenced to nine months in prison last week by the Cairns Magistrates Court. He had admitted to three counts of breaking into a building with the intent to steal and one count of burglary.
But his sentence was put on hold for a year, so if Taak follows his rules for a year, he will never have to go to jail.
Mr. Rennie said that Taak wasn't going to be punished at all because of the sentence.
"Really, he hasn't been changed at all," he said.
Taak was also ordered to pay Mr. Rennie $200 in compensation, but the retiree said that doesn't make up for feeling unsafe in his own home.
"Home is supposed to be a place where you feel safe. He said, "It's a breach of privacy."