Crooked in Canada II

A New Zealand couple fled to Hong Kong with about a $7 million bank mistake and now they are subject of a manhunt.

Given that the authorities already know where the couple is, likely right down to address they are at in Hong Kong, I hardly think it is a manhunt.

Whatever floats the media’s boat when it comes to sensationalizing a news story such as this one I guess.

A $7 million bank mistake and somebody had the balls to take the money and run. I’m not sure if that is something I would do if a bank effed up with me to the tune of a couple of million dollars, but I would definitely would consider my options and like it or not, the bank would literally have to go through all ‘my red tape’ to get it back. I would definitely put them through hell, and I would make damn sure that I cashed in one way or the other with their mistake.

There is no way I would be giving back the money just on their say so. Call it spite, but the banks put their customers through quite a bit of hell, and I think I would seize the opportunity to stick it to the bank one way or the other.

Let’s face it, banking institutions are sticking it to us all the time, and their billion dollar quarterly profits are proof of that. Since when has a bank ever given back even a portion of what they have taken away from their account holders. Yeah, the bank would have a battle trying to get their money back, and they would eventually, but I would use that money as leverage to make a little bit of money for myself. I’m not sure how I would do that, but I think I could figure out a way to cash in on their mistake.

Think about it, we rarely get a break from banks. They are quick to seize our assets, foreclose on our homes when times are tough like they are now, and they generally don’t give a shit about account holders whose money they risk for those billion dollar profits they reap year in and year out.

When we make a mistake at our financial institution, they have things like fees, and late charges to stick it to us, and go forbid if you are accidentally overdrawn thanks to direct debit when it comes to household bills.

Once I was charged $35 for being a couple of dollars short in my account when the electric company debited my account for a $47.00 bill. The worst part of it is, the bank didn’t even cover the $2.00 or whatever it was I short, and yet they charged me $35.00. The electric company wasn’t happy with me either.  Can you believe that?

Yeah, the bank, which shall remain nameless for now, really stuck it to me big time when I made the tiniest of mistakes, so therefore I wouldn’t have any problem sticking it to them big time if they inadvertently credited my bank account with a shit load of money. I wouldn’t rip them off like they ripped me off, but I would find a way to make them pay for their mistake.

All it takes these days is for a couple keystrokes of a non-attentive bank worker in his or her mundane job to make some people temporarily rich beyond their wildest dreams, as was the case when Kara Yang and her boyfriend Leo Gao discovered they had an extra ten million New Zealand dollars in their Westpac bank account.

The couple managed to transfer about $4 million of that money out of their account before Westpac caught on to them. Gao and Yang promptly fled the country for Hong Kong.

So what if it was you on the receiving end of a multi-million dollar bank mistake, what would you do?  Would you take the money and run if you could, you know, flee to a country that doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the country you fled? Change your identity and live high on the hog?

There are plenty of options, but I think most people (myself excluded of course) would probably do the right thing. I would understand if people didn’t though.

Times are tough, banks rip us off, and that kind of money could buy you a whole new identity, even get you a sex change operation, so yeah, why not pull a Steely Dan and take the money and run. You could definitely live the good life if you didn’t mind living a new life without those people closest to you.

I know if it was me, I would definitely go out of my way to cash in on the bank’s mistake, but I’m not sure how I would go about it. I would have to put some considerable thought into it, but I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to stick it to the bank, and capitalize on their mistake.

Don’t banks use your money, my money (what little I have in the bank), to rake in their billion dollar profits?

Sure, they do so I don’t see what would be so wrong with me trying to make a little money off their multi-million dollar mistake, if I should be so lucky to be on the receiving end of one.

I don’t know if I would have the balls to do something like that, but yeah I would consider it, I think.

It depends on a lot of things, like how long I could drag out returning the money to them, and whether or not I could put up with all the legal headaches.

I bet I could find a lawyer willing to take up the challenge of me challenging the bank’s right to have the money returned to them expediently.  He or she would probably do it pro bono too. A case like the one I am suggesting would generate a lot of good PR for a lawyer willing to represent me in such a case. I would eventually return the money, but it would be at my own pace, and I would return it in full. I would find legal ways of making them wait for the money though. I would drag out returning the money until I was satisfied I was getting a little something out the bank’s mistake for myself.

I know, I know it doesn’t sound realistic, but hey, you just never know what legal argument might work. All I really know is that at the end of the day, I am going to find a way to cash in on the bank’s mistake without having to steal it like the New Zealand couple did.

Then there’s ‘the gravy’, you know, the fame and small fortune that might follow me around while the bank and I worked out our differences on the return of the money.

At the very least, and with a multi-million dollar bank mistake such as the one Westpac made, the only way the bank would get the money back is if they made it worth my while to return it to them. I just wouldn’t hand it over on their say so. No way.

Let’s see, the bank accidentally transfers millions of dollars into my account, all but losing it, and I find it. I promptly remove that money from my account and put it somewhere for safekeeping until I find out who the rightful owner is.

Does anybody have any idea how many bank customers have lost money because of a bank’s ineptness and lackadaisical attitude towards other people’s money?

Once it is established who the money actually belongs to, I return it. That would be the responsible thing for me to do, right? I should be rewarded for showing that kind of responsibility don’t you think?

Trust me, with that kind of mistake, the bank should be held accountable by its customers. What Leo Gao and Kara Yang did was stealing. What I’m proposing isn’t stealing, it’s just taking advantage of somebody else’s mistake, and if that means holding the money for ransom, then so be it.

The bank, if they want their money back, is going to see things my way, or nobody sees the money again. Let the banks threaten to have me tossed in jail. Let the courts toss in my jail. If I’m in jail, nobody gets the money back. The money is my leverage, and at the end of the day, a few million dollars can do a whole lot of talking for me.

I would be open to negotiation, and what a stubborn negotiator I would be. Yang and Gao don’t have that opportunity now. Their greed got the better of them.

I don’t know if I’m on to something here, but the question I asked was what you would do if your bank account was accidentally credited with a few million dollars, and I answered for myself. I would be interested in hearing what you would do. Click on comment if you’re so inclined to share what you would do.

New Zealand couple take the money and run after bank error

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