A Californian man was robbed of his life savings just seconds after withdrawing it.

Painful cellphone footage showed the moment a mugger fled with $200k in cash belonging to Francisco Cornejo.

The attack happened in the parking lot of a Chase Bank in Huntington Park last week.

The 55-year-old had recently sold his home and had driven to the branch to empty his account, when the opportunistic thief struck.

“He was parked as closely as possible to the bank, knowing he was going to withdraw a large amount of cash,” his attorney Nathan Soleimani told ABC7.

“As soon as he got to his car, before he was able to get to his car, he was grabbed and beaten.”

He tried desperately to hang onto the bag, knowing it was everything he had, but he was beaten to the ground.

“He was literally fighting for his life savings,” Soleimani said. “And when he was being beaten he was doing his best to try and retain the bag that he brought with him.”

While a passerby managed to capture the moment the thief fled, Cornejo said nobody stepped in to help him or try to apprehend his assailant.

The victim was left covered in bruises, with his arm in a sling.

The FBI have now joined in the hunt for the mugger, and are combing surveillance footage of the surrounding areas.

“Thank God he’s alive. His family is grateful he got out of it with just the injuries that he has,” Soleimani added. “At the end of the day, they’re thankful for him being here.”