This is directly from a leading newspaper in NZ
Westpac is using charging orders and property law notices to salvage what it can from the personal assets of a Rotorua man who has fled the country after receiving a multimillion dollar bank credit.
Rotorua service station owner Leo Gao and his partner, Kara Young, are believed to be in Hong Kong after Mr Gao's Westpac account allowed him to access millions of dollars.
Westpac confirmed yesterday that a $100,000 overdraft had been applied for but the account was wrongly given a $10m limit on May 5 as the result of a data entry error. The mistake was not picked up until late last week.
The account holder believed to be Mr Gao then tried to withdraw $6.7m from the account and move the money offshore. The bank has recovered $2.9m and has hired a private investigator as it tries to track down the rest.
Westpac said yesterday $3.8m was missing.
A Westpac spokesman today said the bank was doing all it could to recover the funds, including receivership action in relation to Mr Gao's petrol station.
As well, the bank had instigated legal action to issue charging orders and property law notices over personal assets.
"The process is that if Property Law Act notices are unremedied then the bank can proceed to the sale of those assets," the spokesman said.
New Zealand police and Interpol are making inquiries with Hong Kong police, and officials in Beijing, to track down the couple and the missing cash.
Neither the bank nor police have confirmed the identities of the fugitives.
The couple are reportedly travelling with Ms Young's seven-year-old daughter, Lena, and her sister, Aroha. A third person, Huan Di Zhang, a director of Heights Services, which owned the service station, is also missing.
Ms Young's mother, Blenheim hair salon owner Suzanne Hurring, who was interviewed by police yesterday, told 3News the escapade was completely out of character for her daughter. "She's beautiful and she's honest ... she's never pinched a thing in her life."
She said her daughter had phoned her once since flitting the country, "but I hung up on her because I knew what she had done".
She described her daughter's partner as "an OK guy" and hard-working. "But if you want to know, I'd really like to wring his blimmin' neck."
She hoped her daughter would come back soon. "I've got to keep my spirits up and get my girls home. Never mind Leo, he can stay there."
TVNZ broadcast footage of Mr Gao's white ute abandoned at Auckland International Airport.
Banking experts say recovering the money will depend on the co-operation of authorities in the country where it is found. It is illegal for the couple to keep it.
Ad Feedback Neighbouring business owners said Mr Gao had been trying to sell the service station for almost a year. A house nearby, owned by Mr Gao and Mr Zhang, has been for sale since October.
Andrew Campbell, of financial workers' union Finsec, said it would be wrong to single out one employee for the mistake.
Manual checks were made at the end of every day to balance the "ups and downs", he said.
"What is unusual is the large amount involved and why it didn't get picked up."
WORLD IS WATCHING
The story of the "accidental millionaires" is making headlines around the world:
It was one of the most popular stories on websites including the BBC, CNN and Voice of America, and was picked up by international wire agencies, including AFP, Reuters and the official Chinese news site Xinhua.
Britain's The Times noted the runaways appeared to have "taken Westpac's motto `Make the most of life' to heart" and likened them to 1930s American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde.
The Sydney Morning Herald said the couple "were laughing all the way from the bank".
Writing in the British newspaper The Guardian, philosopher Julian Baggini said claiming the bank should pay for its mistake was like stealing a car and blaming the owner for leaving the keys in it.
