Imagine checking your bank balance and finding that, rather than ten thousand New Zealand dollars, the bank said you had ten million. Over four million in euros, at the current rate of exchange. What would you do?
Ring up the personal banker and mention this unfortunate bank error in your favor? Off by a few decimal places, you'd laugh, and could it be corrected please.
Or would you, like the New Zealand couple who discovered such an error, take the money and run?
The couple has not been named, but they are on international radar as the authorities attempt to track them down.
As far as the bank is concerned, that money was stolen, even though it was someone at the bank who made the mistake. After all, they surely knew that they didn't have ten million and the money couldn't be theirs. Withdrawing the sum was the same as stealing it, though without the need for guns, getaway cars and heavy lifting.
No one makes that kind of money running a petrol station in Rotorua, even allowing for a particularly good tourist season. But how does Westpac Bank know for certain that the couple didn't think they'd come by the money in a different manner?
Did anyone check e-mails to see if the New Zealanders had been contacted by the Minister to the Vice-President of Nigeria, seeking assistance in transferring hidden assets in return for a slice of the pie?
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