First of all, this article is not specifically about the late Philip Markoff (seen in the picture to the right). It’s about a more recent incident of serious gambling addiction (with far less devastating consequences, fortunately). As part of OCNet’s new ongoing series to educate gamblers of the dangers and signs of online gambling addiction, we bring you this gambling addiction case with a “side of angst” for Bank of America…

So, Bank of America apparently allows some of its customers to withdraw hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars without actually requiring to have said hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars in one’s bank account. Call it overdraft protection for overdraft protection,  the reality is that it’s a glitch – and certainly something we do not recommend anyone trying to exploit. Bringing the problem into light was a man in Detroit (unlike other articles, we’ll abstain from mentioning his name for dignity’s sake), who over the course of one-and-a-half years, withdrew over $1.5 milllion in funds he did not have, and then proceeded to blow every penny of it at the Greektown Casino in Detroit.

Did I mention this was a glitch? And a gambling addiction too, mind you. How on earth someone could get away with withdrawing this much in stolen funds over such a long period of time is beyond comprehension. But then again, this is Bank of America we’re talking about here. According to the bank of the nation that helped incite the worldwide debt crisis, the glitch happened as a result of the transfer of bank account information. Specifically, the man in question originally held a bank account with LaSalle Bank, which was acquired by Bank of America (before the B.O.A. “bailout”). During the transfer of his account, which in reality, only had $300 in it, Bank of America assigned the account privileges to make unlimited ATM cash overdraft withdrawals.

Oops.

How this was not caught earlier on truly is baffling. It took over two weeks after the man withdrew $312,000 from ATM’s at the Greektown Casino and nearly $52,000 from ATM’s at the MGM Grand in a single day, that Bank of America noted irregular activity and put the man’s account on hold. And by that point, he had accrued more than $1.5 million in debt lost to Detroit casinos.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit, the man is facing 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to the charges of theft of bank funds. It was noted that while the man (who does not have a prior criminal record) could be facing a much steeper sentence, prosecutors blamed Bank of America for the allowing the withdrawals to take place, thus enabling the man’s “lapse of judgment”.

The good news is that nobody was killed. It doesn’t happen very often, but severe gambling addictions have resulted in the loss of life. Let us not forget the tragic case of Phillip Markoff, who before taking his own life in a jail cell, took the life of Julisa Brissman during a robbery instigated by gambling indebtedness.

At least the man who gambled away $1.5 million in stolen overdraft funds has another chance on the road to recovery. May we all take heed of his mistake and hold close a healthy fear of chasing after losses.