Quoted:
Strange, I thought there was a limit to how much you can take out in a 24-hour period.
View Quote
Normally there would be a limit, but the computer system was damaged, and out of the goodness of the credit unions hearts for the 9/11 workers, the system was disabled, the alternative was to prevent all withdrawls. Just to show you that there are some people out who just plain unethical and immoral, and to take advantage of someone that is down. BUT the long arm of the law will catchup with them
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Los Angeles Times: Post-9/11 Thefts From ATM Lead to N.Y. Arrests
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[url]http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fraud6aug06.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dnation%2Dmanual[/url]
THE NATION
Post-9/11 Thefts From ATM Lead to N.Y. Arrests
Crime: Up to 4,000 people may have been involved in stealing up to $15 million
from a credit union, authorities say. Sixty-two people have been held.
By JOHN J. GOLDMAN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
August 6 2002
NEW YORK -- Up to 4,000 people are being investigated for allegedly stealing $15
million from a credit union during the confusion after the terrorist attacks on
the World Trade Center, prosecutors said Monday.
So far, 62 people have been arrested, and authorities are seeking 39 others in
the widening inquiry. Many are New York City employees.
Manhattan Dist. Atty. Robert M. Morgenthau called the scheme one of the largest
fraud cases to emerge in the aftermath of the collapse of the twin towers Sept.
11. He added that the $15 million was a "hard figure" and not a "pie-in-the-sky"
estimate.
At a news conference with Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, Morgenthau said
the attack damaged the Municipal Credit Union's ability to ensure that members'
accounts contained sufficient funds to cover withdrawals from the credit union's
automated teller machines.
The credit union's computer system, in a building near the trade center,
suffered power outages and phone problems after the attack. But credit union
officials decided not to shut down the ATM operation, recognizing that doing so
could cause even more hardship for members affected by the tragedy.
"This is a prime example of 'no good deed goes unpunished,' " Morgenthau said.
"People took advantage."
Authorities said some credit union members who were arrested withdrew the
maximum of $500 a day when their accounts had minuscule balances.
Some went on spending sprees for jewelry, liquor, clothing, shoes, leather goods
and electronic equipment.
"People tried to profit from the confusion," Kelly said. " ... For a while, they
got away with it."
Authorities said a nurse at the Manhattan Psychiatric Center made 54 withdrawals
from automated teller machines starting seven days after the attacks, even
though her balance was already overdrawn. By the end of October, the nurse had
collected $18,111--which she never arranged to pay back.
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