Chinese bank’s software chief jailed after finding way to withdraw US$1m in ‘free’ cash from ATMs
- Programmer told bosses he was testing its security system and the money he had taken was just resting in his account
- Flaw in system meant that withdrawals made around midnight were not recorded in the system
A senior programmer with a Chinese bank who developed a way to withdraw more than US$1 million in “free” cash from ATMs has been jailed for 10 and a half years.
Qin Qisheng, 43, a former manager in Huaxia Bank’s technology development centre in Beijing, spotted a loophole in the bank’s core operating system that meant cash withdrawals made around midnight were not recorded.
The bank accepted his explanation that he had simply been trying to test its internal security and the cash was just resting in his own account before he returned it to his employers.
But the authorities did not accept this explanation and jailed Qin for theft in December, a ruling the appeal court upheld last month.
Qin discovered the flaw in the system in 2016 and in November that year he inserted a few scripts in the banking system which he said would allow him to test the loophole without triggering an alert.