WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita bank is trying to get money back from a woman accused of making more than 50 withdrawals from an ATM that was spitting out $100 bills in place of $5s.
The Central National Bank filed a lawsuit last month in Sedgwick County District demanding that Christina Ochoa return about $11,600 plus interest, the Wichita Eagle reported.
The bank alleged Ochoa quickly realized the ATM wasn't working properly and calculated subsequent withdrawals to maximize how much cash was mistakenly dispensed.
The withdrawals stretched from Jan. 13 to Jan. 17 and were mostly made in the middle of the night, according to the lawsuit. Ochoa's mother, Christy Ochoa, is also named because she drove her daughter to the ATM.
"The first time the ATM dispensed more money than what was due ... Christina and Christy had a duty to return the surplus funds to the bank," the lawsuit stated. "Not only did they fail to (do) so, but they capitalized on the situation by making a series of over fifty (50) structured withdrawals, most within minutes of each other, and transacted at all hours of the night in order to expose Central to more loss."
The Ochoas have denied any wrongdoing. Christy Ochoa said her daughter made that many transactions because she wanted enough $5 bills to craft a "money cake" as a gift for an acquaintance who just had a baby.
The bank kept the money that remained in Christina Ochoa's checking account after the ATM withdrawals to recoup some of the loss, as well as about $680 that was deposited Jan. 30, according to the lawsuit.
Central also wants to confiscate two cars that the Ochoas bought during the time the ATM wasn't properly working, alleging the $3,000 down payment for one of them "was made up entirely of one hundred dollar bills," according to the lawsuit.
Christy Ochoa alleged the vehicles were paid for with student loan proceeds and settlement money from a car wreck.
