“I stole 23 million dollars”. Gary Foster is not a professional thief, but a former executive of the American banking giant Citigroup. After years spent in the otherworldly dimension of finance, he found himself confessing his sins to him in any Brooklyn courthouse. In his words, neither shame nor satisfaction, more amazement than anything else. For two reasons.
First: landing the coup of a life was damn easy. No tunnels a la Banda Bassotti, no acrobatics a la Arsenio Lupine. All it took was one click and voilà, all finished in seconds. The loot had moved from Citigroup's internal accounts to Gary's personal account. Furthermore registered with a competitor bank, Jp Morgan Chase.
Second: no one noticed for eight long years. Yet it wasn't difficult. Even if you wanted to overlook the balance sheets, it was enough to take a look in the Treasury department of the Bank and compare the vice presidents. At the same salary, Gary could afford to buy houses at will between New York and New Jersey, as well as a flaming Maserati GT.
Finally the gates of heaven closed because of a bloody auditor. A bespectacled technician who, calculator in hand, stumbled upon an unexplained hole of 22,9 million dollars. Now the banker who lived as a banker risks 10 years in prison.
Source:
New York Daily News
