A Tunisian hired as a security guard despite a long criminal record is suspected of fleeing with 180,000 euros as the banker he was accompanying made a detour to meet his plumber.

The unfortunate banker had been tasked with delivering the cash, a mix of dollars and euros, to another branch of his bank, said a court official in Manouba, the region of Tunis where the robbery happened.

The banker was accompanied by a driver and the security guard, but when he received a call from his plumber, the banker requested that they make a detour to his home, where he got out of the vehicle -- leaving the bag.

When he returned, he found that the guard charged with protecting the delivery had given the driver the slip and fled with the cash, Sondos Nouioui, Manouba court spokeswoman, told Tunisian media.

The driver and the banker have been detained.

Nouioui said the suspect, who had worked for four months for a private security firm, was a notorious criminal and the subject of no fewer than 10 wanted notices.

His whereabouts are not known but he is believed to be flush with cash.