NZ pair go on run after bank gives £4m

[GTIR]

"Interpol are hunting a couple who have fled New Zealand after a bank paid £4.9m into their account by mistake. "

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090521/twl-accidental...

Good on them! I would do the same.

[ShadownINja]

Into a bit of the old fraud are you, then?

[GTIR]

For £4.9m yes

ETA Its not fraud its stealing. Still yes.

Edited by GTIR on Thursday 21st May 20:32

[grumbledoak]

How would they actually get the 4.9M ? The bank isn't exactly going to hand it over cash...

[T5SOR]

grumbledoak said:

How would they actually get the 4.9M ? The bank isn't exactly going to hand it over cash...

Cash machine. £300 out a day.

[ShadownINja]

GTIR said:

For £4.9m yes

ETA Its not fraud its stealing. Still yes.

s/fraud/stealing, then.

Does the sum makes it ok? Don't say, "It's bank money." because that's plain daft.

[BigBen]

grumbledoak said:

How would they actually get the 4.9M ? The bank isn't exactly going to hand it over cash...

I read this storey elsewhere earlier today and had the same question, it is not like they were likely to have had time to open an account in the Cayman islands to wire it through and hide their trail.

Ben

[GG89]

How annoying would it be taking £300 a day max out when you know all that is in!

Wouldn't the bank be able to trace what cash machine is being used?

Don't think they'l be on the run very long.

[GTIR]

If you bothered reading story it says they asked for a loan of 10,000 but was given 4.9m!

[GTIR]

ShadownINja said:

GTIR said:

For £4.9m yes

ETA Its not fraud its stealing. Still yes.

s/fraud/stealing, then.

Does the sum makes it ok? Don't say, "It's bank money." because that's plain daft.

For £4.9m yes

[tinman0]

GTIR said:

If you bothered reading story it says they asked for a loan of 10,000 but was given 4.9m!

Actually, the reporting on this story is quite bad (and multiple sources).

The story says that they applied for an overdraft, but got given cash, which is where the misunderstanding is coming from.

I'm assuming that they overdraft amount was entered incorrectly, and instead of $10k overdraft, they had access to a $10m overdraft, and promptly raided it quick time.

This isn't the first time its happened either, but when you've read the story in the past, haven't you, just for a fleeting moment gone "you know, I would of drawn the cash and gone on the run!".

[Nero601]

T5SOR said:

grumbledoak said:

How would they actually get the 4.9M ? The bank isn't exactly going to hand it over cash...

Cash machine. £300 out a day.

my tea just about stayed in my mouth lol

[thehawk]

I would try and get the money into another country asap and then get myself to a country with no extradition treaty.

Interesting to see how much they got and how they got it out though, I would have thought there would be various checks where they would be caught out.

I think the criminal aspect of it comes from the fact it is fairly obvious that they have deliberately taken the money without intent or means to pay it back, as opposed to having the overdraft for a long time and then not being able to pay when the bank demands it which is harder/impossible to prove intent.

[Colonial]

That's the same bank I'm with.

Fingers crossed then.

[Jasandjules]

Guam said:

If they signed the loan documents which I presume were countersigned by the bank I reckon the bank could be screwed here.

I beg to differ.

IF they withdrew the amount of the loan/overdraft then yes. But it's clear that the bank has made an error (i.e. it's a bit difficult for them to claim they didn't realise they didn't want a 10million overdraft) and as a result they would know that they were not entitled to draw on the amount and therefore they intended to commit theft/fraud...

[silver.fox.2008]

Guam said:

Technically if the bank gave them a loan for that amount would this be theft or would it be a civil matter.

If they signed the loan documents which I presume were countersigned by the bank I reckon the bank could be screwed here.

This could be interesting as unless the Authorities can prove likelihood of a criminal offence then I would think extradition could be challenged in many jurisdictions

If that is the case they just have to let the repayments go into default then file for bankruptcy surely

Could be funny this

Could also all be bks

I'm pretty sure the paperwork would likely say 10k not 4.9m

Still, how can they steal it, unless some stupid bint sat there all afternoon counting out it over the counter, one does wonder?

[thehawk]

silver.fox.2008 said:

Still, how can they steal it, unless some stupid bint sat there all afternoon counting out it over the counter, one does wonder?

From my understanding of the NZ banking system:

1) Transactions are immediate. i.e If I went online and transferred funds from my Barclays bank to a Lloyds account it would be instantaneous, not overnight.

2) I think banking laws are stricter over there, if it's in a bank account it would take extraordinary measures to access that if you are not the account holder - so once it's left Westpac they are pretty much screwed. (I think even when someone goes bankrupt they still need a court order to access or freeze their bank accounts)

And it's another world down there, none of this paranoia about terrorism or money laundering and the amounts were not especially huge - broken up into smaller chunks they could merely be transfers for a house purchase for example. So given 16 days head start and a good plan they could be all over the place now - and being Asian probably very easy to conceal amongst their own families communities.