"Random Millionaire" received from the bank $ 7.7 million by mistake

A 33-year-old resident of New Zealand, who in 2009, the local bank Westpac mistakenly issued a loan of $ 7.7 million, was found guilty of theft, attempted fraud and money laundering. The story of Gao is interesting in itself, but from a technical point of view it is simply surprising that such banking errors are possible at all. Especially considering that Westpac software costs for the software amount to $ 300 million per year, and the cost of all software installed in the bank exceeds a billion dollars .

The owner of a gas station in New Zealand, Hui Gao (Hui "Leo" Gao) in 2009 turned to the bank, asking to establish an overdraft on the account of 100 thousand New Zealand dollars (about $ 77 thousand). As a result of a clerical error, he was given an overdraft for a hundred times the larger amount. The bank did not notice the error immediately, but the fraudster transferred money to foreign accounts and was hiding from justice for about two years.

The bank was able to cancel some transactions and return NZ $ 3 million, and also withdrawn a certain amount after Gao’s arrest, but NZ $ 3.8 million could not be found.

Commenting on Gao’s sentence, prosecutor Fletcher Pilditch (Fletcher Pilditch) said that such a case is unlikely to happen again in the future, since “representatives of the banking industry have learned the lesson well”.
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Bank Westpac was founded in 1861, it has 1.2 million customers, more than 200 branches in New Zealand and abroad. Fitch and S & P credit ratings are similar at AA-. That is, it is a large and reliable bank with a good reputation. According to the financial statements , the bank spent on software $ 206 million in 2009, $ 300 million in 2010.