NZ couple do bunk with £3.9m bank error
Take the money and run
Agentless Backup is Not a Myth
New Zealand police have asked Interpol to help them apprehend a couple who did a bunk with an unspecified percentage of a NZ$10m (£3.9m) bank error.
The unnamed couple, believed to have run a Rotorua service station before taking the money and running, applied for a NZ$10,000 loan with Oz bank Westpac, which generously decided to credit them a little extra, the BBC reports.
Sergeant David Harvey of New Zealand Police said: "The individuals associated with this account are believed to have left New Zealand and police [are] working through Interpol to locate those individuals.
"Westpac Bank has recovered some of the money which had been inappropriately withdrawn."
Police did not specify just how much of the runaway wonga had been recovered. Westpac media relations supremo Craig Dowling said the bank was "pursuing vigorous criminal and civil action" to recover the outstanding amount.
The NZ fugitives are evidently a little more savvy than the Pennsylvania Pratts who pulled a similar stunt back in January. Randy and Melissa Pratt got an unexpected $177,250 windfall in their FNB Bank account.
Instead of making straight for Rio de Janeiro, they settled on Florida, where they were subsequently cuffed. Randy Pratt described the cash as "a gift from God", and insisted they'd donated thousands of dollars to charitable causes. ®
COMMENTS
@I wonder... etc...
In answer to all those 'how would you feel if you overpaid..' comments. It has happened to me, and the police were utterly uninterested (it's a civil matter sir - you sent it, not theft). Correct, it's still my money, but getting it back is a bugger, and is most definitely civil. Why when it's the bank that is the 'self harming' party is it a criminal matter?
The reason there are so many 'good on em' comments is because the banks, despite being the economically more powerful entity in every transaction they engage in with a customer (rather than a counter party) are the one with greater protection.
As regards extra bank charges - my bank makes 14B per annum, and rights off 8B for crappy investments. I could probably afford a 0.05% increase in fees.
Good on 'em, hope they get away with it.
Filthy thieves that they are.
Clarification
Definition of Theft
–noun
1.the act of stealing; the wrongful taking and carrying away of the personal goods or property of another; larceny.
2.an instance of this.
3.Archaic. something stolen.
Definition of Wrongful
–adjective
1.unjust or unfair: a wrongful act; a wrongful charge.
2.having no legal right; unlawful: The court ruled it was a wrongful diversion of trust income.
So still not entirely clear, but I hope they get away with it.
IT infrastructure monitoring strategies
Requirements Checklist for Choosing a Cloud Backup and Recovery Service Provider
Data control in the cloud
Cloud based data management
Agentless Backup is Not a Myth
