Detroit man gambles away $1.5 million accidentally given by ATM

[~ The 34 Year Buzz!!]

Ronald Page seemingly had it made when Bank of America unintentionally changed his account status, allowing the 55-year-old man to make unlimited ATM cash overdraft withdrawals.

But ABC News reports that Page, who in reality had only $300 in his checking account, used the accidental loophole to withdraw more than $1.5 million—losing it all on gambling.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sidesho...-away-1-5-million-accidentally-191619543.html

I'm sure he had fun for at least 10 minutes.

 

[NPer]

Damn, that is actually sad.

I don't think he should be held accountable for it, if anybody should be, it's Bank of America themsleves.

Imagine having access to funds you never had in your life! It's very tempting. Also, this happened during the height of the financial crisis when things were going pretty bad in 2008-2009. Who blames him. :D

Bank of America messed up. Their controls were weak/lacking and have to learn from this mistake. How will he be able to pay it back? He only had $300 in his account-definitely not a rich man.

:wave:

 

[GILSAN]

Silly man; He should have grabbed the money and moved over to Venezuela. Hugo Chavez would have been glad to receive him

 

[enlytend]

I don't think he should be held accountable for it, if anybody should be, it's Bank of America themsleves.

Imagine having access to funds you never had in your life! It's very tempting.

If you find a wallet someone dropped that's tempting too - is it OK for you to take their money? Bad screw-up by BOA though (why does it not surprise me?)

Maybe he was thinking if he won he could keep his winnings if and when BOA realized their error and demanded the original money back? (Nah, too logical - probably just has a serious gambling problem.)

 

[Kate]

Domainers are losing a lot of money on gambling too

 

[johname]

Domainers are losing a lot of money on gambling too

Imagine that guy in the appraisal section finding out he had unlimited credit at godaddy lol

 

[~ The 34 Year Buzz!!]

"Lucky guy", but his luck quickly ran out:

1) It is a "verified real story", i.e. he is headed to jail.
2) The mistake was allowing unlimited overdrafts, so his account could keep going negative.
but....
3) What happened to daily limits on withdrawals?
^^^


#3 isn't explained in the article, that part doesn't make sense.*

*EDIT:
It does say "unlimited ATM cash overdraft withdrawals", but usually overdafts and daily limits are not the same.

 

[barefoottech]

Just because it was available does NOT make it ok to withdraw.
Called "theft by finding"

 

[KingDon]

"And even worse for Page, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit says he is now facing 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to charges of theft of bank funds, $1,543,104 in total between December 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009."

Imagine, $1,5 mil cash, but something makes you gamble it all away, he must have been living pretty large for 6 months. The strangest stories come from reality.

Thanks for sharing that!

 

[weblaunch]

How did they know he gambled all the money away?

 

[Nicarlo]

I heard about this about a month ago and laughed... out of all things why would anyone gamble away all that money. Don't know how legit this story is though.. since when do ATM's hold that much money in the first place?

 

[GiftedDomains]

I am pretty sure he didn't gamble the money, but the 1.5 million $ are burried somewhere waiting for him to come out of jail in 2 years

 

[SK1990]

Imagine that guy in the appraisal section finding out he had unlimited credit at godaddy lol

lolol!

Damn, that is actually sad.

I don't think he should be held accountable for it, if anybody should be, it's Bank of America themsleves.

Most, if not all, ATMs have a label on the front which warns that users are responsible for money that is dispensed by error.

since when do ATM's hold that much money in the first place?

My thoughts exactly!

 

[NPer]

Most, if not all, ATMs have a label on the front which warns that users are responsible for money that is dispensed by error.

Directly from the article:

The glitch reportedly occurred because Page originally had a banking account with LaSalle Bank. When Bank of America acquired LaSalle, the glitch somehow occurred while the two banking institutions were transferring account information.

It was not an "error" with the ATM. Reading the article, you will see that it was a glitch relating to his account and not the ATM. God knows, maybe EFTs would have worked too.

My thoughts exactly!

The article clearly states that it was not one withdrawal.

...$1,543,104 in total between December 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009.

Also:

The day the Bank of America glitch went into effect, Page reportedly withdrew $312,000 from ATMs at the Greektown Casino in Detroit and an additional $51,727 from the MGM Grand Casino. Bank of America placed a hold on his account 17 days later, but he had already withdrawn $1.5 million by that point.

 

[SK1990]

Directly from the article:



It was not an "error" with the ATM. Reading the article, you will see that it was a glitch relating to his account and not the ATM. God knows, maybe EFTs would have worked too.



The article clearly states that it was not one withdrawal.



Also:

I admittedly didn't read the article; however, in my eyes the fact that he kept going back makes it even worse.

Also I was summarizing. Those logo things are written without loopholes to the effect of any money that does not rightfully belong to you.

 

[RaiderGirl]

I don't think he should be held accountable for it, if anybody should be, it's Bank of America themsleves.

Imagine having access to funds you never had in your life! It's very tempting. Also, this happened during the height of the financial crisis when things were going pretty bad in 2008-2009. Who blames him. :D

:wave:

I know what you mean, why just the other day I was walking by a armored truck with bags of cash on the ground just waiting to be loaded, being the poor soul that I am with only $100 in my bank account I stole one of those bags with nearly 150K and lost it playing blackjack and slots at a $100 a pull.

Hey, it's NOT my fault, they should of never left the bag on the ground, tempting a poor poor soul like me... So I blame the armoured car company and also the bank for their negligence, Who cares anyway, they have plenty of money and can well afford it.

Seriously, if I was Bank of America I'd get a judgement against him and go after every single asset he has, just to make an example of people who knowing spend money that is NOT theirs, And what's that called again? Oh yeah,

STEALING!


And what a LOSER.. Blowing it on Gambling, it's no wonder he has only $300 in the bank, he's been a loser all his life....

If were going blame Bank of America for anything, let's start by blaming them for giving this THIEF a bank account.

 

[DU]

Anyone watch that show http://www.baitcar.com/

Anyway - the money wasn't FREE.. he was taking UNLIMITED OVERDRAFTS. In other words, his account was going more and more the way of the US debt

The reality is that this man is no different than the American govt. Enjoy your future.

 

[RaiderGirl]

Anyone watch that show http://www.baitcar.com/

The show where cops go into poor neighborhoods and park a car that's running with the keys in the ignition and door open?.. Yeah, I've seen it and quite honestly I think it's disgusting.

Having said that I fail to see the comparison.

 

[DU]

The show where cops go into poor neighborhoods and park a car that's running with the keys in the ignition and door open?.. Yeah, I've seen it and quite honestly I think it's disgusting.

Having said that I fail to see the comparison.

Your example picking up a bag of cash that wasn't appropriately locked up.

My example, a car that has been deliberately not locked up

I fail to see how they aren't similar but great minds don't always think alike.

 

[RaiderGirl]

Your example picking up a bag of cash that wasn't appropriately locked up.

My example, a car that has been deliberately not locked up

I fail to see how they aren't similar but great minds don't always think alike.

My example the dishonest man sees a opportunity and takes it... (Sorry you didn't get that)

Your "BaitCar" example implies this was a intentional act by Bank of America to allow him to withdraw unlimited cash via the ATM, that it was deliberate, Which is a absurd.