Too lucky Australian

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Shortly after young Australian Luke Brett Moore lost his job, he discovered the bank had mistakenly opened him an unlimited loan. It was too good an opportunity to miss. Website He publishes Luke’s account of how he began to spend money unrestrained and couldn’t stop until one day the police knocked on his door.

It may sound implausible, but I wasn't going to take all the money out of the St George bank and not pay it back. I was waiting for someone from the bank to contact me and say, “Let’s return this amount of money.”



In 2010, I had a regular bank account from which I paid mortgages, health insurance and other bills. Then I had an accident in my car and the bills went to another bank. I don't remember exactly why that happened.

For the first week after I was fired, I was worried: what to pay for the mortgage? But on the appointed day, the payment from my old St George bank account went through and I thought, "Oh, good."

And two weeks later, $500 for my mortgage was also paid off from my account. And it went on for a year. The bank didn't say anything, but my account showed overspending.





Around this time, I called my credit card company and said, “Could you charge me $5,000 non-acceptable?” A couple of days later, I asked to write off $50,000. Both requests were approved.

I was shocked. I found that I had access to almost unlimited credit.

I bought my first car, the Alfa Romeo 156. Later, I bought a Hyundai Veloster. This was a three-door car with a glass roof. I bought it to drive to Sydney and buy Maserati, which cost me $36,000. It was a cool car, but by today’s standards it’s not a supercar.



It was a crazy time. I was only 22 years old and didn’t think much about it. Strip clubs, girls, alcohol... I had just recovered from a serious accident and was unemployed for the first time since I was 14. I broke up with my girlfriend, with whom I had been together for four years. I wanted to start over. And I moved to the Gold Coast near Brisbane.

One weekend I flew to Surfer’s Paradise, and I loved it, so I decided to stay. I did what most young guys who have a lot of money do there: hang out and have fun. I went to strip clubs and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on girls and alcohol and so on.



I bought a fishing boat. I bought a 10-pound bill made by Banksy. It was my most expensive thing on par with Amy Winehouse's autograph on a leather drum membrane.





And every time I asked my bank, St. George, to give me money, without even expecting to get it, the bank would give it away.

At first, my mother thought I was a drug dealer. Then it became clear that I was not doing that. But in general, everyone who spoke to me quickly realized that it was better not to ask about the origin of my money.

In 2012, I was sitting with my mom in my bedroom in my old home in Goulburn, when suddenly there was a knock on the window. By the time I got to the door, the police had already broken in. They pressed my mother against the wall and began filming, almost sticking their video camera in my face. They were armed like they thought I was a mad gangster.





I was told that I was arrested and all my property was confiscated. I spent the night at the police station, but the next day I was released on bail.

Then he was accused of seizing funds by deception and sentenced to 4.5 years. I didn’t expect to have to serve a prison term. I thought I'd be acquitted. I had to find a free lawyer, but Australia's free legal aid system is terribly poorly funded. None of the free lawyers were interested in this case, did not want to pursue it, and as a result, I was poorly defended in court.





Prison was terrible. You're away from your family and locked up in a cell 17 hours a day. I spent six months there. It was the hardest time of my life. From the first day of my stay, I did everything to get out of there as soon as possible. I read as many legal books and laws as I could. As a result, I defended myself in court.

I was released a few weeks ago. Under Australian law, I had no obligation to inform the bank of what was going on.





The judge said that I was dishonest, but in our society, immoral behavior is not a reason for imprisonment and loss of freedom.





I was just unlucky that this happened to me.

www.bbc.com/russian/features-38316484