A man has pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining financial advantage when Commonwealth Bank ATMs hit a glitch yesterday. Picture: Craig Greenhill
- Teen seen "high-fiving" after withdrawal
- Used ATMs 10 times to withdraw $1500
- Bail conditions ban him from bank branch
THE first person to be charged over yesterday's ATM glitch has pleaded guilty this afternoon to scamming more than $1000 from the Commonwealth Bank.
Ertem Adam Toklar, 18, yesterday used three separate ATMs a total of 10 times to withdraw $1500 for his cousin, Fairfield Local Court heard.
Documents tendered to the court revealed Toklar, of Northmead, was given $50 by his mates to withdraw the sum of money during yesterday’s bank bungle.
The glitch meant hundreds of people were able to withdraw more than was in their account.
Police arrested Toklar and his 20-year-old friend Elias Khouzame after witnessing them exchanging money on Merrylands Rd and "high-fiving each other".
They were both charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage.
CCTV footage obtained by the Commonwealth Bank cameras captures Toklar using the same ATM four times, before moving onto the second and third machines to withdraw more money, the court heard.
Sitting in the dock, Toklar showed no signs of remorse over his actions that contributed to the Commonwealth Bank's huge loss.
Police prosecutors told the court they would be seeking compensation on behalf of the bank, on top of the penalty handed down by the courts.
He was released on bail on the conditions he reside at Northmead with his mother, report to Wentworthville police three times a week and agree to forfeit the sum of $1000.
He was also ordered not to enter or loiter around the Commonwealth Bank at Merrylands.
Toklar will return to court on March 21 for sentence.
The court case comes amid revelations the Commonwealth Bank knew customers might overdraw their accounts when it decided to put its ATMs into "stand-in" mode.
A Commonwealth spokeswoman told The Sydney Morning Herald today the bank could not reveal today how much money was overdrawn from accounts yesterday using the bank's ATMs.
Meanwhile, Consumer Action Law Centre spokeswoman Nicole Rich questioned the scare campaign warning ATM customers they may have committed crimes.
"We're seeing some quite heavy-handed messages about how people should be really careful because they might have committed a crime and they're going to get into trouble... I just think it's a really inappropriate response," she told the ABC.
"Customers won't necessarily be able to keep any money that they've got, but that doesn't mean the bank's got the right to just take that money back in a lump sum. They might have to work out some repayment arrangements."
Choice spokesman Christopher Zinn called on the bank to explain what went wrong.
"The spin so far seems to have been that people [have] wilfully overdrawn funds knowing they didn't have them. I'm sure there are many people for whom that actually doesn't apply," he told the ABC.
