Investigators are hunting for Carol John Mee Lim, 41, a Singapore native who is believed to have stolen some US$10 million from account holders of a New York bank.

The woman who is thought to have an insatiable gambling habit may have fled to Canada to escape federal investigators.

The New York Post quoting a relative reported that Carol Lim is on the run and has left the country, leaving angry account holders threatening to sue the bank and its manager to get their money.

Carol Lim

The Singaporean who lived in the Midwood section of Brooklyn disappeared last month after admitting she never deposited investments she took from customers at the Canal Street branch of the Abacus Federal Savings Bank.

The federal criminal complaint filed against Lim in U.S. District Court in Manhattan alleges she stole US$1 million in a complicated scheme in which she allegedly opened bogus accounts and falsified bank records over a period of seven years.

But according to a state Supreme Court order issued May 8, Abacus Federal Savings successfully gained an injunction that froze $6.5 million of customers' money as part of a civil action the bank has launched to identify and recover missing deposits.

And at a meeting recently between bank officials and irate customers at Abacus' Bowery Street headquarters, bank chairman Thomas Sung Sung said Abacus had lost at least US$10 million as a result of Lim's pilfering, according to Alfred Lui, an attorney representing 40 customers threatening legal action.

"He told us that insurance [in the form of an employee fidelity bond] would cover $5 million of the losses, and that he'd put up another $5 million out of his own pocket," Lui said.

The irate Abacus depositors say their accounts are missing US$4 million, and are threatening a class action against Abacus and Sung.

The depositors, many of whom are retired Chinese immigrants who don't speak English, say bank officials have refused their attempts to withdraw their money or confirm what they believe is the extent of their investments.

Last month hundreds of customers stormed Abacus branches and reportedly withdrew $30 million in savings.