A couple splurged in casinos and 5-star hotels after a bank error saw £5million paid into the account

Hui 'Leo' Gao and his partner Kara Hurring have gone on the run after a bank accidentally gave Gao a £5million overdraft. The couple lived the high life, gambling much of the money, before they were eventually arrested by the police

Hui (Leo) Gao and Kara Hurring in court after spending millions of dollars accidentally deposited in Gao's account (

Image: One News New Zealand)

A couple have spent millions on casinos, hotels and shopping sprees after their bank accidentally deposited £5million into their account.

Hui "Leo" Gao requested a £52,000 overdraft to help his struggling service station business in Rotorua, New Zealand in 2012.

The loan was approved by Westpac bank but a clerk made the mistake of adding a few zeros, making Gao a millionaire.

The money wasn't his, but that didn't stop him and his partner Kara Hurring from enjoying every minute of their new found money.

The duo got away and became "folk heroes" who blew money out of gambling and five-star hotels.

An international manhunt was launched, but the couple spent and withdrew a total of £3.5million before being arrested by police.

Gao's bank had approved an overdraft of £52,000 to help with his struggling business, but a clerk mistakenly added zeros (

Picture:

ABC News (Australia)/Youtube)

The couple's story was incorporated into the 2019 film "Runaway Millionaires," based on Hurring's account of what happened.

A former roommate of the couple has since recalled how she saw "lots of zeros" when she checked Gao's account online, writes The Sun, as it showed an overdraft of $10 million (5.2 million pounds).

After refreshing the page a number of times, he started celebrating wildly.

Bianca Taute said, "Gao was ecstatic, he jumped on the bed shouting 'we're f*****g rich' and making cacophonies."