It seems a bit wild that this wouldn't be immediately picked up by the executive team, payments halted and the CEO fired over the course of 4-8 hours. So quickly that there is basically no crime and nothing to prosecute. This crime was exactly the sort of things banks are designed not to do.
[0] In this case it was a couple of payments, but sending bank money to a private account is a red flag. We're talking blood red, rose red, angry-bull red red flags. It isn't a minor request.
So he doesn't go to the conscientious, rule-following guy with a stick up his ass. He goes to someone so junior they don't know better. Or someone who's flattered to get the CEO's direct attention and to be trusted and included on a secret project. Or someone trusting that the CEO gets on well with. Or someone who thinks producing results and cutting through red tape will show the CEO their potential as an executive.
And if the first person he approaches says there are forms to fill in he takes the forms, thanks them, and asks someone else the next day.
But what if you hate your boss? I think a lot of people might do as their boss says if he's an asshole and they realize he's going to land in prison if they go along with his orders.
Even not being aware, can make you a accomplice, but you might get away if it was not obvious. But if it is obvious - and workers of a bank should obviously know at least some laws - following such orders would be just stupid.
Do enough crime, buffer overflow. Must be insane! Just playing around, know no additional context
My close relative committed similar crimes in similar circumstances but at a much smaller scale. “Appears under the spell” describes what I saw very well. I think people who get into such situations are ill and do not control their actions, like a drug addict, alcoholic or a pathological gambler.
25 year sentence does some justice but it won’t stop these people because they are not capable of understanding what they do and what consequences they cause.