WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A businessman and his girlfriend, whose bank accidentally handed them a $6.1 million credit line, have managed to flee the country with more than a third of the cash, the bank said Friday.
An international search is under way for the couple, who are believed to have gone on the run, possibly to Hong Kong or China, to avoid having to give the money back.
On Friday, a New Zealand woman told the TV3 network that the couple sought by police were her daughter Kara Yang and boyfriend Leo Gao, who were traveling with Yang's 7-year-old daughter, Leena.
Sue Hurring said that while the situation was "stupid, bizarre," her daughter was "honest."
"She has never pinched a thing in her life — probably as a little girl, yes — but she is so honest, so honest," she told the network.
The New Zealand Press Association also reported the names of the couple.
Police have not identified the pair. Detective Senior Sgt. David Harvey said Interpol was investigating in Hong Kong and was also working with officials in Beijing.
Westpac Bank said in a statement Friday that the couple, who ran a gas station in the North Island city of Rotorua, had a bank overdraft of New Zealand $100,000 ($61,000). On Thursday, the bank had mistakenly said the couple's overdraft was worth NZ$10,000.
But in formalizing this credit limit — meant for the gas station the couple ran — the bank accidentally opened a line of credit for NZ$10 million ($6.1 million), the statement said. Initial details from the bank indicated that money had actually been deposited into their account.
An account holder then tried to transfer about NZ$6.7 million ($4 million) out of the account, but the bank was able recover NZ$2.8 million ($1.7 million), the bank said. The statement did not specify how it got the money back.
"Westpac is continuing to vigorously pursue the outstanding amount," the bank said.
Companies Office records list Gao and another person not connected to the heist as owners of the gas station, which police said filed for bankruptcy protection this month.
Westpac says it considers the money to have been stolen but conceded it was human error at the bank that made the couple accidental millionaires.
Hurring, a hairdresser in the South Island town of Blenheim, pleaded Friday for her daughter to stop running.
"Just come home now; it will be OK," she told the TV3 network.
Source
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Toddler buys earthmover in online auction
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A New Zealand mom made some online bids on toys before napping. Then her 3-year-old daughter took over and bought a bigger plaything than expected — a huge earth-moving digger for a cool $12,300.
Pipi Quinland made the winning 20,000 New Zealand dollar ($12,300) bid on the Kobelco digger with a few mouse clicks at the auction site TradeMe while her parents slept, the Rodney Times newspaper reported in northern New Zealand.
"The first I knew about it was when I came down and opened up the computer," said Pipi's mother, Sarah Quinlan.
"I saw an e-mail from TradeMe saying I had won an auction and another e-mail from the seller saying something like 'I think you'll love this digger,'" she was quoted as saying in the paper.
Quinlan said she had made auction bids on several toy sets and assumed she had bought a toy digger.
"It wasn't until I went back and reread the e-mails that I saw $20,000 — and got the shock of my life."
She immediately called the auction site and the seller to explain what happened.
TradeMe reimbursed the seller's costs for the auction and the digger was relisted.
Source
Pipi Quinland made the winning 20,000 New Zealand dollar ($12,300) bid on the Kobelco digger with a few mouse clicks at the auction site TradeMe while her parents slept, the Rodney Times newspaper reported in northern New Zealand.
"The first I knew about it was when I came down and opened up the computer," said Pipi's mother, Sarah Quinlan.
"I saw an e-mail from TradeMe saying I had won an auction and another e-mail from the seller saying something like 'I think you'll love this digger,'" she was quoted as saying in the paper.
Quinlan said she had made auction bids on several toy sets and assumed she had bought a toy digger.
"It wasn't until I went back and reread the e-mails that I saw $20,000 — and got the shock of my life."
She immediately called the auction site and the seller to explain what happened.
TradeMe reimbursed the seller's costs for the auction and the digger was relisted.
Source
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Nebraska boy, 6, takes wheel as dad passes out
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. – Police say a 6-year-old boy grabbed the wheel of their pickup after his dad passed out from low blood sugar and kept them from crashing until a North Platte police officer could bring the truck to a halt.
Tustin Mains was in the back seat with his 3-year-old brother when he noticed that his dad, Phillip Mains, slumped down on Sunday evening while they were driving home from a restaurant.
"I remember getting up to about the mall — that was about 6:45," Phillip Mains told The North Platte Telegraph. "The next thing I remember was waking up to the officer and paramedics, and it was 8:15."
Tustin hopped up from the back seat to his father's lap so he could steer and see out the windshield.
His dad's foot had slipped off the accelerator, but even at idle the Chevrolet Avalanche was going an estimated 10-15 mph.
Other drivers noticed the boy driving the truck. Some maneuvered their vehicles in front or behind the pickup and turned on their emergency blinkers.
Tustin remained at the wheel for several blocks, even turning around when he got into a neighborhood he didn't recognize.
He was then spotted by North Platte officer Roger Freeze.
Freeze maneuvered his car near enough that he could stop, get out and run up to the pickup. The driver's side window was down, so Freeze reached in, grabbed the gearshift and rammed it into park.
North Platte Police Chief Martin Gutschenritter praised his officer and young Tustin.
"I will be issuing him a departmental citation for his quick, professional action on this case. That is also a very special young man. He was able to take quick action when his dad was incapacitated, and we are very proud of him, too," Gutschenritter said.
Tustin's dad was grateful to Freeze as well.
"To chase down a moving vehicle and get it stopped the way he did took a lot of nerve, and if it weren't for him, things could have turned out much worse."
For a kindergartner, Tustin did a pretty good job of driving. The pickup sustained only a minor scrape when it brushed a piece of a bridge as Tustin turned to head back into town.
When he saw his dad "fall asleep," Tustin said, he got scared, then got another fright when officer Freeze appeared at the driver's window.
But when Freeze brought the pickup to an abrupt halt?
"I was just happy," Tustin said.
Source
Tustin Mains was in the back seat with his 3-year-old brother when he noticed that his dad, Phillip Mains, slumped down on Sunday evening while they were driving home from a restaurant.
"I remember getting up to about the mall — that was about 6:45," Phillip Mains told The North Platte Telegraph. "The next thing I remember was waking up to the officer and paramedics, and it was 8:15."
Tustin hopped up from the back seat to his father's lap so he could steer and see out the windshield.
His dad's foot had slipped off the accelerator, but even at idle the Chevrolet Avalanche was going an estimated 10-15 mph.
Other drivers noticed the boy driving the truck. Some maneuvered their vehicles in front or behind the pickup and turned on their emergency blinkers.
Tustin remained at the wheel for several blocks, even turning around when he got into a neighborhood he didn't recognize.
He was then spotted by North Platte officer Roger Freeze.
Freeze maneuvered his car near enough that he could stop, get out and run up to the pickup. The driver's side window was down, so Freeze reached in, grabbed the gearshift and rammed it into park.
North Platte Police Chief Martin Gutschenritter praised his officer and young Tustin.
"I will be issuing him a departmental citation for his quick, professional action on this case. That is also a very special young man. He was able to take quick action when his dad was incapacitated, and we are very proud of him, too," Gutschenritter said.
Tustin's dad was grateful to Freeze as well.
"To chase down a moving vehicle and get it stopped the way he did took a lot of nerve, and if it weren't for him, things could have turned out much worse."
For a kindergartner, Tustin did a pretty good job of driving. The pickup sustained only a minor scrape when it brushed a piece of a bridge as Tustin turned to head back into town.
When he saw his dad "fall asleep," Tustin said, he got scared, then got another fright when officer Freeze appeared at the driver's window.
But when Freeze brought the pickup to an abrupt halt?
"I was just happy," Tustin said.
Source
Friday, May 29, 2009
Blown-away Chihuahua reunited with owners
WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Michigan — Tinker Bell has been reunited with her owners after a 70-mph (113-kph) gust of wind picked up the six-pound (2.7-kilogram) Chihuahua and tossed her out of sight.
Dorothy and Lavern Utley credit a pet psychic for guiding them on Monday to a wooded area nearly a mile (1.6 kilometers) from where 8-month-old Tinker Bell had been last seen. The brown long-haired dog was dirty and hungry but otherwise OK.
The Utleys, of Rochester, had set up an outdoor display Saturday at a flea market in Waterford Township, 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Detroit. Tinker Bell was standing on their platform trailer when she was swept away.
Dorothy Utley told The Detroit News that her cherished pet "just went wild" upon seeing her.
Source
Dorothy and Lavern Utley credit a pet psychic for guiding them on Monday to a wooded area nearly a mile (1.6 kilometers) from where 8-month-old Tinker Bell had been last seen. The brown long-haired dog was dirty and hungry but otherwise OK.
The Utleys, of Rochester, had set up an outdoor display Saturday at a flea market in Waterford Township, 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Detroit. Tinker Bell was standing on their platform trailer when she was swept away.
Dorothy Utley told The Detroit News that her cherished pet "just went wild" upon seeing her.
Source
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Foul-smelling man linked to money laundering
EUGENE, Ore. – Authorities said a man accused of money laundering was tripped up because he could have used a little cleansing himself.
Court records show that during his trips to a Eugene bank a man drew attention to himself because of a foul odor, possibly linked to fertilizer. A teller vomited. Customers complained. Authorities investigated.
After an Internal Revenue Service investigation into a drug operation involving high-potency marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms, a federal grand jury indicted the man.
He does not face drug charges, but he is accused of laundering cash in dozens of transactions totaling nearly $500,000 in 2007 and 2008.
Court records show he pleaded guilty in 1999 to manufacturing and delivering a controlled substance.
Source
Court records show that during his trips to a Eugene bank a man drew attention to himself because of a foul odor, possibly linked to fertilizer. A teller vomited. Customers complained. Authorities investigated.
After an Internal Revenue Service investigation into a drug operation involving high-potency marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms, a federal grand jury indicted the man.
He does not face drug charges, but he is accused of laundering cash in dozens of transactions totaling nearly $500,000 in 2007 and 2008.
Court records show he pleaded guilty in 1999 to manufacturing and delivering a controlled substance.
Source
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