How an Unemployed Man Used a Bank Glitch to Live Like a Rock Star

24-year-old spent more than $1.5 million in 'free' cash on strippers, booze and travel.

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The world's wealthiest are hoarding record levels of unused cash.
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In 2010, Luke “Milky” Moore was down-on-his luck. He was 24, and he had been working since thirteen, bagging groceries, mowing lawns, even selling insurance. He didn’t go to college so that he could keep working. He always thought he would be a millionaire someday. He invested in hedge funds and at just 19-years-old, bought a house for him and his high school sweetheart, Megan. But in 2008, everything fell apart. The stock-market crashed depleted $50,000 of his life’s saving. He lost his job. Then, he was driving early one morning and fell asleep at the wheel, causing him to crash into an 18-wheeler. It was lucky that he survived. But he suffered from crippling depression and could barely get out of bed. His mom was sick, leaving Moore to care for his year-old brother. He and Megan broke up. He was alone, broke, unemployed, and about to be foreclosed on.

But then, his mortgage kept getting paid. He was able to transfer as much money as he wanted among his accounts. He was essentially getting “free”money from the bank. So he lived the life he had always wanted: he moved to Surfers Paradise and indulged in booze, strippers, drugs, and traveling. In total, he was able to get more than $1.5 million in cash from the bank. Eventually, the party had to end, and Moore was arrested and sentenced to four years and six months in prison after being found guilty of knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime and dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception. But he appealed the case, and represented himself. He was later acquitted. He now plans to make his fortune the old-fashioned way as a criminal lawyer.

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