Man Who Became Millionaire Due To Bank Glitch Jailed For Theft

A man who became a millionaire because of banking glitch has been jailed for six years for theft.

Roman Yurkov, from Tula, Russia, was stunned when he saw that he'd received 95.2 million rubles ($1.3 million) last year.

The sum was the result of a technical error during an update of his bank's mobile app in June 2020.

But while most people would probably have realised that something wasn't quite right, the 35-year-old reportedly decided to enjoy his newfound wealth.

Newsflash

According to the investigation, reported by Lenta.ru, between 31 May and 1 June, he made 220 separate transactions, which he spent 'at his own discretion', prosecutors alleged.

And they weren't all small purchases either, with Yurkov treating himself to four new apartments, a BMW, a Mercedes and an iPhone.

Yurkov described it as like being 'in the movies', saying: "I bought everything I wanted. Well, only I didn't buy the plane."

However, there was no Hollywood ending for him, with a court ruling that he was guilty of theft, sentencing him to six years in prison.

Yurkov had claimed that he was told by the bank that everything was above board, saying he was in constant contact with employees.

Despite the fault happening in June, it wasn't until November, while taking in the quarterly report, that the anomaly was reportedly spotted by the bank.

Yurkov's account, which contained 39 million rubles ($540,000), was blocked and then seized in December.

During a hearing on 24 June, he was found guilty of 'theft from a bank account, committed on an especially large scale' and of 'taking advantage of a malfunction in the bank's software'.

It's understood that Yurkov still claims to be innocent.

And with this story ending the way it has, it's not hard to see why Julia Yonkowski from Largo, Florida, was so keen to get her situation sorted after she found £1 billion sitting in her account.

Julia Yonkowski

Ms Yonkowski was stunned when she went to withdraw $20 (£14.40) from an ATM on 19 June and discovered that she somehow had $999,985,855.94 (£719,984,816.35).

Speaking to WFLA at the time, Julia said: "Oh my God, I was horrified. I know most people would think they won the lottery but I was horrified.

"When I put in for the $20, the machine came back and said we'll give you the $20 but that'll cause an overdraft and you will be charged and I said, 'Oh just forget it'."

The bank has since hinted that she may have actually been in negative digits.

Topics: Bank, Police, Mercedes, Florida, Money, theft, US News, crime, Technology, iPhone, Russia, BMW, court

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

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