Follow-up to my post #12144... (*)
Looting Baghdad's museum artifacts or swindling NYC ATMs --which is worse?
...qui sine peccato est vestrum primus in illam lapidem mittat.
(John 8:7)
74 people arrested in 9/11 credit union fraud
Wednesday, June 18, 2003 Posted: 2347 GMT ( 7:47 AM HKT)
NEW YORK (AP) -- Nearly 30 city employees are among a new round of suspects who allegedly took advantage of a malfunctioning ATM after the September 11 terrorist attacks to steal millions of dollars.
Authorities arrested 74 more people and sought another 44. All are among 4,187 members of a government credit union who are being investigated in the theft of a total of $15 million.
The suspects allegedly withdrew more than they had in their accounts. The credit union, whose members include city, state and federal government employees and health care industry workers, was headquartered near the World Trade Center when the 2001 attack brought twin towers down.
The destruction disabled the Municipal Credit Union's automatic teller machines. Rather than shut them down, the credit union allowed the ATMs to continue dispensing cash to avoid causing account holders hardship.
"While the city focused on recovery, these people took advantage of the chaos," said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said those arrested Wednesday were given a chance to take out loans to repay the money, but declined. If convicted, each faces up to seven years in prison for larceny.
Of the $730,518.68 stolen by the 74, the most taken by an individual was about $7,500, Morgenthau said.
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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