$350,000 Stolen From Bank Through Its Auto-Teller System

Security Pacific National Bank acknowledged Tuesday that nearly $350,000 was stolen over the Veterans Day weekend from about 300 customer accounts through the bank’s network of automated teller machines.

A special card provided to some bank employees may have been used to gain access to accounts at machines at Los Angeles-area branches, override the daily limit on withdrawals from individual accounts and take cash without being detected.

One customer said in an interview Tuesday that $1,200 was withdrawn from his account in a single day, four times the $300 daily limit.

Deborah K. Lewis, a spokeswoman for the bank, said the thefts occurred between Nov. 11 and 13 at machines at several branches in the Los Angeles area. Lewis acknowledged that the withdrawal limit had been exceeded as part of the scheme.

Lewis said the theft had been referred to law enforcement authorities. An FBI agent in Los Angeles confirmed that an investigation is under way.

Lewis said the total loss was slightly under $350,000 and that the money was stolen from accounts of about 300 customers. She said the customer accounts were reimbursed when the scheme was discovered.

Lewis declined to say how many branches were involved or to specify how the bank’s security system was defeated in what is believed to be one of the largest thefts ever recorded involving the machines, known as ATMs.

“Any system can be beaten,” said a security official at another Los Angeles bank when told of the loss.

Steev J. Pears, a Hollywood cameraman, said in a telephone interview that he discovered Tuesday that $1,200 had been illegally withdrawn from his account Nov. 11. He said the money was withdrawn in three separate transactions that appeared to take place at more than one ATM.

“I was really hot when I saw that,” said Pears, who has an account at a Security Pacific branch in Malibu. “I went to the branch and was screaming at the manager. She told me that they thought it had to be an inside job. That was the phrase she used, ‘inside job.’ ”

Pears said officials at the Malibu branch told him a card provided to bank employees for access to ATMs as part of their job may have been used in the scheme. The card is similar to a hotel passkey and is used to demonstrate teller machines for new customers.

A security official at another Los Angeles bank, however, discounted the idea of a passkey. He did say that such a theft would almost certainly require inside knowledge.

Bank spokeswoman Lewis declined to say whether the investigation centers on a bank employee or employees.

“I can’t say that it was an inside job,” she said. “That hasn’t been totally determined. The exact details of how this thing occurred are still under investigation.”

Lewis said Security Pacific, the state’s second-largest bank after Bank of America, has instituted new security procedures to ensure that the thefts cannot be repeated.

Pears said he was told by officials at the Malibu branch that new pass cards had been issued to bank employees that restricts their access to customer accounts.