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Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

nofreelunch.co.uk

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Re: Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

#141

Post by Aurornis »

nicgrev103 wrote: post #66
mrtksn wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's actually pretty common criminal activity in banking, where an employee will take money from accounts of clients and "gamble" it on high-return short term investments. Obviously I won't be naming Banks here but what usually happens is: 1) If they succeed in their investment they put the money back and walk out rich. Their venture can be detected during an audit some time later but if there's no money missing th…

Isn't this literally what banks do? Take peoples deposits paying a minimal interest rate and then invest that money to earn a return higher than the interest rate they pay the customer (they actually will also borrow more money on the back of your deposit). So, when it's the bank doing it it's ok but a bank employee doing it independently for personal gain it's an issue. The book deal aspect was interesting also. So,…

> So, when it's the bank doing it it's ok but a bank employee doing it independently for personal gain it's an issue.

If the bank came into your home, took money without your consent, gambled it on high-risk activities, then tried to replace it before you noticed that would also be bad.

But that’s not what banks do. People deposit their money at the bank consensually and with an understanding that the bank’s activities are regulated within relatively strict frameworks.

I don’t understand if you are trying to downplay the severity of criminal embezzlement by bank employees or trying to demonize banks, but the two scenarios you’re equating are nothing alike in terms of consent, regulation, risk, and criminality.

Re: Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

#142

Post by HarHarVeryFunny »

evan_ wrote: post #21

Passing it off as proceeds from a vending machine business was smart, I wonder if he actually had a fleet of vending machines to make that plausible. Of course you’d need to be able to show receipts for cost of goods sold… money laundering is hard!

I wonder how he explained (or if he ever had to) that his weekly haul, deposited at the bank, apparently doubled when the looney coin was introduced ?

Re: Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

#143

Post by HarHarVeryFunny »

walthamstow wrote: post #23

It's amazing how far you can get in crime by not driving a flash car and just generally keeping a low profile

Yes, although depositing so many coins at the bank each week that they are having to let you in the back door isn't exactly low profile behavior!

LTR's record keeping/monitoring must have been abysmal if they didn't realize the sudden drop in revenues when they hired this guy, unless the person he replaced had been doing the same !

Re: Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

#144

Post by TuringNYC »

kvdveer wrote: post #64
mschuster91 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Discrepancies in accounting are the norm, not the exception. No large company will ever have perfectly balanced books for a multitude of reasons - too many different IT systems that sometimes but not always have the same data, humans in the loop that forget or fat-finger entries, inventory loss/theft/damage, you name it.

Having your books off by a few percent is indeed quite common. However, missing 20% on your primary source of income is not the norm. If a company would report that nowadays, it would trigger a money laundering investigation.

I'll bet they baselined 20% and started comparing it to the previous month or previous year. After many years, they probably established norms that accounted for this 20% loss unknowingly.

Re: Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

#146

Post by mensetmanusman »

badcppdev wrote: post #2

That is absolutely disgraceful on the part of the accountants and programmers who should have been reconciling the cash vs sales. Over 13 years!

Just say it's a glitch but never write a fix ticket and it will hang.

Re: Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

#147

Post by genman »

xpe wrote: post #68
refurb wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I noticed that too. $38k in 1981 in Edmonton was firmly middle class. Plenty of homes cost less than $100k. Rent was in the $100-300 per month range for a nice 2 bedroom. Dude just got greedy. If he had skimmed $600 per week instead of $3000, he would have doubled his take home pay and likely never would have been caught. It would have amounted to almost $100k every 3 years which is a tidy sum back then.

> Dude just got greedy. It seems to me that once a person builds an illegal habit, it demonstrates they: (a) probably have a higher risk tolerance than most people and/or an inaccurate understanding of the empirical risk level and/or (b) they have, perhaps only temporarily, found a self-interestedly-rational aspect of law/society to exploit. Once one's behavior crosses into that realm, "dude just got greedy" seems to…

He could have stopped stealing when he wanted to have a more lavish life style and they wouldn't be have been able to catch him (at least not red handed).

Re: Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

#149

Post by michaelcampbell »

belter wrote: post #80
mrtksn wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's actually pretty common criminal activity in banking, where an employee will take money from accounts of clients and "gamble" it on high-return short term investments. Obviously I won't be naming Banks here but what usually happens is: 1) If they succeed in their investment they put the money back and walk out rich. Their venture can be detected during an audit some time later but if there's no money missing th…

I worked in finance and I am not aware of jurisdictions that mandate 2 weeks time off. Can you mention one? I am aware of some recommendations but I have worked up to board level, and never see this being more than an excuse to not miss the next golf tournament.

I worked at a Wall St. trading firm (albeit not in the trading area), and a lot of the back office/audity type people were required to switch roles every so often, so that any little unforeseen way to steal money somehow wasn't overlooked and "hoarded" by one person. In addition to multiple people having to sign off various things, etc.

IIRC, there were mandatory PTO/vacations required as well, so that everyone's job was done by at least 2 different people during the year.

This was not a legal thing, but required for the firm I worked at. My manager at the time said this was pretty common practice on the street, then. (Early/mid 90's.)

Re: Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

#150

Post by zeke »

belter wrote: post #80
mrtksn wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's actually pretty common criminal activity in banking, where an employee will take money from accounts of clients and "gamble" it on high-return short term investments. Obviously I won't be naming Banks here but what usually happens is: 1) If they succeed in their investment they put the money back and walk out rich. Their venture can be detected during an audit some time later but if there's no money missing th…

I worked in finance and I am not aware of jurisdictions that mandate 2 weeks time off. Can you mention one? I am aware of some recommendations but I have worked up to board level, and never see this being more than an excuse to not miss the next golf tournament.

I worked at an investment bank in the New York area. Employees had a two week lockout each year.
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