Sao Paulo, Aug 3 (IANS/EFE): A 73-year-old retired teacher went to a bank in Brazil and demanded at gunpoint that the financial institution return 50 reais (about $25) that a teller failed to give her when she made a withdrawal a day earlier, media reports said.

Janet Benfatti was carrying a loaded revolver when she entered a Banco Itau branch Wednesday in Sao Jose de Rio Preto, a city about 450 km from Sao Paulo, looking for the teller who had processed her transaction.

Benfatti threatened the branch manager with the gun when she was told the teller was off, the Agencia Estado reported.

"I didn't notice the money was missing until I got home in the afternoon and since they told me today (Wednesday) that the teller was not working, I showed the manager the gun and told him that I wanted the missing money" from a withdrawal of 500 reais (about $250), the retired teacher told reporters.

The bank manager gave the woman the money and called police, who tracked down the retiree based on the tag of her automobile.

Benfatti, who taught philosophy and literature, was arrested and released a few hours later on bail of 630 reais (about $315), or nearly 13 times the disputed sum.