Interpol alerted after couple flee with millions

Yahoo!7 News, Yahoo!7 May 20, 2009, 11:22 pm

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Police are hunting a couple thought to have fled New Zealand with millions of dollars, after a banking error.

The couple, who ran a Rotorua service station, are understood to have applied to Westpac Bank for a $7,800 overdraft and mistakenly had $7.8 million paid into their account.

A Westpac spokesman today refused to confirm the amount mistakenly given to the couple, though said the bank was "pursing vigorous criminal and civil action to recover the sum of money stolen".

He said human error was responsible for the couple's substantial windfall, not a systems error, and that the bank was reviewing its procedures.

Police had asked international police liaison organisation Interpol to help find the couple.

The service station has closed and gone into receivership.

Officer-in-charge Detective Senior Sergeant David Harvey of Rotorua CIB was prepared only to say that an investigation had been launched into a substantial sum of money that had been "mistakenly advanced" from Westpac.

Police had received a complaint from Westpac relating to people living in Rotorua.

He refused to say how much money was involved.

Police were investigating because the Westpac bank considered what had happened was theft or fraud, through the use of a document to obtain a pecuniary advantage, Mr Harvey told Rotorua's Daily Post newspaper.

He confirmed some of the money mistakenly advanced had been withdrawn from the bank account but was not prepared to say how much money was involved.

He expected the investigation to "take some time".

Banking Ombudsman Liz Brown told The Daily Post that generally speaking it was a criminal offence for someone to spend money accidentally put into their bank account if they knew the money wasn't theirs.

In her 15 years as banking ombudsman she had been involved in 10 to 20 cases of this nature. They were legally referred to as "payment by mistake".

She was unable to recall how much money was involved in each case.

"There haven't been cases of millions of dollars but certainly ones where there have been several thousand dollars," she said.

Massey University banking lecturer Claire Matthews said the lucky recipients would probably not get away with it.

"They've taken funds that they're not entitled to, that are not theirs," she told Newstalk ZB.

"They've effectively, I guess, become thieves but it is only going to be a matter of time."

The business owners would be hard pressed to argue they honestly believed they were entitled to such a huge sum of money, she said.

Westpac said this morning court action had begun to recover the money but refused to comment further.

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erich 06:47pm Monday 25th May 2009 EST Report Abuse
shr gut
Matt T 02:15pm Friday 22nd May 2009 EST Report Abuse
Yeah good on em!!! The banks screw us up so much, if this couple get away with it serves the banks right. CommSec recently banned me from opening a share account because I over-purchased some shares by AUD$80 and when I deposited $3000 soon after, they didn't care when I called them. So I ...
kylie 06:22am Friday 22nd May 2009 EST Report Abuse
yeah screw the banks i remember closing an account and the dumb arse teller did somthin rong and my boss for got i had changed banks put the money into the old account, what should have happened is the bank returns the money to the sender because there is no account. Well SOMEHOW the automatic pay ...
MICHAEL 05:37am Friday 22nd May 2009 EST Report Abuse
GIVES A WHOLE NEW MEANING TO " BONNIE & CLYDE " WE'RE FANCY LIVING PEOPLE, JUST OUT TO HAVE A GOOD TIME...OR ARE THEY JUST MODERN DAY ROBIN HOODS & YES, WHILE WE ALL KNOW THE BIGGEST THIEVES ARE THE BANKS THEMSELVES AS AN HONEST PERSON I ADMIT THEY HAVE PR ...
roger and sally c 05:13am Friday 22nd May 2009 EST Report Abuse
Oh dear...does NZ have a good exchange rate anywhere????
Brian 10:42pm Thursday 21st May 2009 EST Report Abuse
Westpac are without doubt the highest charging bank as far as fees are concerned, why do people still bank with these robbers, Good luck to the kiwi's, "Payback's a @#$%".
vlad 10:07pm Thursday 21st May 2009 EST Report Abuse
Doesn't matter if the bank is right or wrong u lose. A case where a property was used as collateral by a person who did own the property. The borrower defaulted the bank took possession sold the property over the heads of the rightful owners. The banks position was it done nothing wrong.
pam f 10:06pm Thursday 21st May 2009 EST Report Abuse
I would love them to get away with it...banks rip all of off all the time and they get away with it.
Tim 09:24pm Thursday 21st May 2009 EST Report Abuse
Ronald Biggs got away with it so go and enjoy it while you get the chance. The banks are corrupt any way because they simply steal your money and call it fees!
Robert K 08:24pm Thursday 21st May 2009 EST Report Abuse
Vicky M, That's what my beef is all about... those fees ARE ALL ILLEGAL (Victoria VACC decision)- seems they are protected for other STATES by CORRUPT POLITICIANS! - Here in QLD the Govt refuses to protect it's own citizens