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Bank blunder makes couple accidental millionnairesAnne Barrowclough in Sydney
A New Zealand couple whose bank mistakenly paid $NZ10 million (£3,900,000) into their account have taken the money and run, and are now the subject of an international police hunt.
Huan Di Zhang and Hui Gao, who ran a service station in the city of Rotorua on North Island, had applied to Westpac bank for a $10,000 overdraft.
A blunder by bank staff meant that the couple received 1,000 times the amount they were expecting.
The accidental millionnaires withdrew some of the money and disappeared, Detective Senior Sergeant David Harvey, of Rotorua police, said.
Police believed the couple had already fled overseas, and Interpol had been alerted, he said.
Local business people said that the couple had disappeared overnight.
Craig Dowling, media relations manager for Westpac, said that the bank was treating the case as a criminal matter but refused to discuss details.
"I can say that Westpac is pursuing vigorous criminal and civil action to recover a sum of money stolen," he said.
Human error was responsible for the couple's windfall, not a systems error, and the bank was reviewing its procedures, he added.
BP Barnetts closed its doors earlier this month after its operator, Heights Service Limited, went into receivership.
Liz Brown, the Banking Ombudsman, said that technically it was a criminal offence for someone to spend money accidentally put into their bank account if they knew that the money was not theirs.
Claire Matthews, a lecturer in banking at Massey University, said it was doubtful that the newly rich couple would enjoy their millions for long.
"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."
hell yeah id run if i thought i could get away with it for long enough, but tbh i dont think it would be worth it, always being worried if they were going to catch you.
if banks make mistake the other way they are slow and reluctant to unodo it.
I wouldnt run, but id probably not say anything for a few weeks unless i figured reporting it early would get me something. Ultimately though id be hoping for some kind of token reward, either letting me keep the interest or a small amount of cash. Certainly if its this kind of huge one off mistake.
I know its wrong, but id feel kind of short-changed if a bank gave me a million pounds, then when i reported it they said "ok thanks bye" and just took it back, without some token gesture of ~£1k
actually I am now thinking I'd give it all to charities, then claim it was a simple mistake on my part, just to see what they'd do and probably embarrass them if they demand it back from the charities lol.
it will be interesting to see how far they get.
oh and I would guess that they would charge you interest on the 1mill loan, i doubt very much they would give any sort of reward lol, i could be wrong though, but i doubt it.
if the moneys still in your account and they find it they can simply take it out, they seem to be able to do these things without your permission.
Last edited by meow; 21-05-2009 at 18:05..
Reason: edited it
f00k em ...run u only live once and what's the chances of getting ur hands on a daft amount of money like that again?
they make way way way more than enough in bank charges,
Well, since it was only the limit on a loan account, the bank didn't actually "give" them the money, as would be the case if the actually deposited a large amount into your savings account.
I can see why they took the money ran, but I wouldn't.
If it was an actual deposit, I might try to guilt them into a finders fee, but I tend to forgive mistakes by other people, as I make a bunch myself.
If you run you'll ruin your life, you wouldn't be able to see your friends or family on a regular basis again. I'm happy with my life so no I wouldn't run but could understand it if someone had a bad life, what have they got to lose?
Compared to what the bankers and politicians have been up to - this is bugger all and I wish them the best of luck. Sure as hell, they're going to need it !
No. It's not a quesiton of ethics, I just wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. If I thought I could walk away with £3 mill of bank money with no come back that would be different.
If I wanted to get rich quick I would just become an MP. Although I think my moral code is too high for that job.
Last edited by RocKtheCasbaH; 22-05-2009 at 11:36..
I wouldn't have to run. Local laws would protect me so that the bank's collector could only take maximum 1/3 of my monthly incomes, but that's only in theory. In real life I would have to give them back, because I wouldn't run. I'd be very tempted to run though.
Edit.
By the way this is classic example why you should not have double zeros on keyboard anymore.
I wouldn't have to run. Local laws would protect me so that the bank's collector could only take maximum 1/3 of my monthly incomes, but that's only in theory. In real life I would have to give them back, because I wouldn't run. I'd be very tempted to run though.
Edit.
By the way this is classic example why you should not have double zeros on keyboard anymore.
Lippow, you're having another bad lager day, it's FRAUD mate whichever way you look at it and they ARE going to get nicked However, I wish them well for as long as possible because they're no worse than some of our crooks. May they enjoy their ill gotten gains
I got a mortgage statement earlier this year and it showed a one off deposit of £20, seen as we pay ours monthly I couldn't understand where it came from so I phoned them and asked to see if hadn't been paid into our account by mistake. The account manager I spoke to thanked me for being so honest as not many people would report such a transaction. But the way I looked at it, if it was only a small payment that could have been the difference of someone getting repossessed or something. So if I would feel guilty over £20 just think how bad I would be at keeping such a huge amount
Would you run?
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However, I wish them well for as long as possible because they're no worse than some of our crooks. May they enjoy their ill gotten gains 
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