Report: Bank made similar 'overdraft bungle' as in Malaysian student case

© Provided by News.com.au Christine Jiaxin Lee is accused of fraud, after going on a multi-million dollar spending spree after discovering she could access millions of dollars. Source: FacebookPETALING JAYA: The Australian bank that mistakenly gave a Malaysian student an unlimited overdraft apparently made an almost similar blunder seven years ago.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Westpac accidentally "set the wrong overdraft limit" on New Zealand service station owner Leo Gao in 2009. Gao then fled to an Asian country and blew away NZ$6.7mil (RM18.3mil).

The case has similarities to that of 21-year-old Christine Jiaxin Lee in Australia, who allegedly spent A$4.6mil (RM13.8mil) after Westpac unintentionally gave her unlimited overdraft after she had opened an account in August 2012.

The chemical engineering student spent the next five years living in a luxury penthouse and buying designer clothes and handbags but was was arrested at Sydney airport trying to fly back to Malaysia.

Lee reportedly siphoned off A$33,000 (RM99,000) a week, totalling A$1.3mil (RM3.9mil), to secret bank accounts with the remaining missing A$3.3mil (RM9.9mil) believed to have been moved overseas or already spent.

She was charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of the crime.

Magistrate Lisa Stapleton was, however, sceptical that the charges would stick, agreeing that it would be difficult for police to prove the spending was illegal.

If that were to happen, Lee would have to repay the money but wouldn't have broken the law.

Lee’s case may differ a bit from Gao’s.

It was reported that Gao had applied for a NZ$100,000 (RM274,000) overdraft on his Westpac account to renovate his service station

.© John Selkirk, Stuff.co.nz Leo Gao leaves Auckland District Court with his lawyer Ron Mansfield in 2012 after pleading guilty.

However, due to human error, Gao’s overdraft was set at NZ$10mil (RM27.4mil), much to his surprise.

He and his wife left the country after transferring NZ$6.7mil (RM18.3mil) to various accounts in China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Interpol eventually tracked down Gao two-and-a half years later when he tried to enter Hong Kong from China. He was sentenced to four years' in prison on seven charges of theft.

Westpac managed to recover NZ$3mil (RM8.2mil) but Gao had refused to reveal where the remainder was, even after being released from prison.