Accidental Millionaires on the run

[Trainwreck2100]

(CNN) -- An international manhunt was under way Thursday for a New Zealand couple who fled after a bank mistakenly paid them NZ$10 million (US$6 million) when they applied for a loan of just NZ$10,000.

New Zealand authorities said they had sought help from Interpol in locating the couple who disappeared May 7, two days after an employee error at Westpac bank paid them 1,000 times the amount they asked for.


The accidental millionaires, who have not been identified by authorities but are believed to come from the resort of Rotorua, were thought to have left the country, police said.


"At this time I am not prepared to disclose the amount of money involved, name the individuals or business involved, or discuss which country the individuals may be in right now," said Detective Senior Sergeant David Harvey of the New Zealand police.


Local media identified the couple as Leo Gao and Australian girlfriend Cara Young, adding that they are now believed to be in China.


The bank, too, would only say it was "pursuing vigorous criminal and civil action to recover a sum of money stolen."


However, local media and many Rotorua residents were abuzz about the amount.


TVNZ, a CNN television affiliate, said the couple applied for a NZ$ 10,000 (US$ 6,000) loan for a service station they owned.


On or about May 5, the bank erroneously put NZ$ 10 million (US$ 6 million) into their bank account.

The next day, the service station closed its doors. And the day after, the couple went missing, TVNZ said.


"Saturday, Sunday, we realized something else was up," Rotorua resident Tania Davies told the station. "They'd done a runner."


Another resident, Chevi Lambert, said a private investigator came by asking about the couple over the weekend.


"It's such a big world, he could just disappear," Lambert said.


Police said the bank had recovered part of the money, indicating the couple may not have been able to access the entire amount.

Westpac is one of the country's largest banks with more than one million customers.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/21/new.zealand.millionaires/index.html

godspeed millionaires

 

[Go Web Go!]

The Accidental Millionaires - Coming this Fall to FOX

 

[Wiseman]

The bank screwed up, the bank should be arrested not those people.

 

[Trainwreck2100]

The bank screwed up, the bank should be arrested not those people.

seriously whenever the customer screws up the bank never gives you a do-over

 

[Majic Walrus]

Yeah I really don't think they've done anything objectionable.

This reminds me of when an employee at my office signed up for direct deposit to her checking account and for paper pay stubs. The pay stubs looked just like checks with the words "non-negotiable" written across it.

The direct deposit went through but the employee didn't know so she picked up her pay stub and thought it was her check. She went to Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart cashed it for her. It was Wal-Mart's mistake and they ate the amount.

Obviously she doesn't make 6 million dollars a week but the principle still applies.

 

[Shuley]

all I can say to that couple is this...run forest run!

 

[terry78]

If the bank does **** like that, can you even get away with it? They got all your info and ****, and even if you do run, the media outlets will broadcast who you are and what you look like.

 

[Raiden]

If it were me who got those millions by mistake, I won't have taken it because I have no interest to live a life as a fugitive. What good is being a millionaire if you can't enjoy it?

 

[Majic Walrus]

If it were me who got those millions by mistake, I won't have taken it because I have no interest to live a life as a fugitive. What good is being a millionaire if you can't enjoy it?

Fugitive millionaires have great times. Look at Columbian drug lords. Just hire some armed guards and move to a small third world nation.

 

[Mister J]

They're liable for every penny and, if caught, they're possibly facing criminal charges and rightfully so.

At least they had the good sense (in a manner of speaking) to skip town, as opposed to spending the money while still in residence and then citing "What? We didn't do anything."

 

[terry78]

That's why I always wonder why people always wish for a bank to make a mistake in their favor. Even if they don't catch it right then, they'll find out how much it was and that it was in your account.

 

[BATZARRO WWD]

They obviously had enought time to think about it, and came to a conclusion. While the morality and legality of it is questionable, you gotta wonder: If one had a chance like that, to live a life hard work and wise spending would probably not give you: Could you turn your back on that? I mean' I've heard of people who have done that kind of thing (bank employee who STOOD GUARD over a bunch of money they just left lying outside). ANd I've heard of other's that couldn't stave off the temptation(Iraq soldiers who found boxes full of money in one of Saddam's palaces. And they would have gotten away with it too, but they had already reported it when they started trying ti hide it.)

Once in my own country, the people of a poor neightborhood found barrels full of drug money in an abandoned house. Heard everyone had bought new cars. Me, I would have bought a good house in a good neightborhood.

 

[Tyrinus]

They obviously had enought time to think about it, and came to a conclusion. While the morality and legality of it is questionable, you gotta wonder: If one had a chance like that, to live a life hard work and wise spending would probably not give you: Could you turn your back on that? I mean' I've heard of people who have done that kind of thing (bank employee who STOOD GUARD over a bunch of money they just left lying outside). ANd I've heard of other's that couldn't stave off the temptation(Iraq soldiers who found boxes full of money in one of Saddam's palaces. And they would have gotten away with it too, but they had already reported it when they started trying ti hide it.)

Once in my own country, the people of a poor neightborhood found barrels full of drug money in an abandoned house. Heard everyone had bought new cars. Me, I would have bought a good house in a good neightborhood.

It's not questionable. It was a clerical mistake, it's not their money and they knew it because they skipped town trying to get away with something they know is wrong.

 

[Addendum]

Perhaps the bank shouldn't have ****ed up in the first place.

 

[The Guard]

Pretty sure the bank's policies say something about absconding with money you didn't have in your account. Idiots. Instead of having a hilarious story to tell people, they're going to be guilty of grand theft several times over.

New Zealand authorities said they had sought help from Interpol in locating the couple who disappeared May 7, two days after an employee error at Westpac bank paid them 1,000 times the amount they asked for.

"It's my first day".

 

[Drakon]

The Accidental Millionaires - Coming this Fall to FOX

And being canceled four episodes in.

 

[Majic Walrus]

And being canceled four episodes in.

 

[katie_girl09]

If it were me who got those millions by mistake, I won't have taken it because I have no interest to live a life as a fugitive. What good is being a millionaire if you can't enjoy it?

That's the thing: Even if you don't believe you'd be doing anything wrong by taking it, its still not worth living as a fugitive imo.
Can they invest it now that everyone knows its dirty money (no seriously, I really wanna know)? Because if you can't, how long is 6 million going to last in this world if you don't have any other source of income?
Iunno. The way I see it, if a bank took $500 off the top of my account by mistake I'd fight them for every penny back and make them apologize for the inconvenience. In the same way, I don't think its morally right for someone to take money that they know was placed in their account by mistake.

 

[Nirvana]

Ha, this story is hilarious. I like how if you **** up at the bank, they automatically keep your money without any thought of refunding you what you lost.

 

[Logan's Runt]

It was a loan in the first place. You have to pay loans back whether they give you a thousand or a million. It's not like they paid them 10 million in interest by accident. :???: So the 'it's the bank's mistake so they should keep it' argument doesn't work. It's not as if screwing up your loan amount means you don't have to pay the loan back.

 

[Philly Phanboy]

If the bank does **** like that, can you even get away with it? They got all your info and ****, and even if you do run, the media outlets will broadcast who you are and what you look like.

Plastic surgery and false IDs FTW!

 

[Addendum]

[YT]SZNgF5j7Ijg[/YT]