February 20, 2008
Same Name and Magically Appearing Millions Add Up to Big Trouble for Brooklyn Man
If a bank teller told you had an unknown bank account with $5.8 million in it and the bank insisted it's yours, wouldn't you spend it? That's what Brooklyn resident Benjamin Lovell did - and now he's paying.
Lovell shares the same name as an employee at Delaware company Woodlawn Trustees. Woodlawn asked that their Lovell be added to a Commerce Bank account with $5.8 million in it, but Commerce somehow mixed up the Social Security numbers of the two Lovells and assigned the Brooklyn Lovell, a Keyspan Energy salesman who makes $600/week, to the account. Jeez, Commerce, you and Social Security numbers!
When the Benjamin Lovell of Brooklyn went to deposit $400 into his account last December, he was told about the account. Lovell did tell the Commerce officials it wasn't his, but they told him it was his. So Lovell did what any person would do: He withdrew $1 million that day, then another $1.1 million over the next month, blowing most of it on "failed investments, jewelry for his mistress, colonic enemas and other extravagances."
Naturally Woodlawn became alarmed when their account was depleted, and the bank contacted the authorities, who only found $500,000 of the withdrawals. The Brooklyn DA's office charged Lovell with grand larceny and he faces up to 25 years in prison. His family was very upset and his wife told the Daily News, "He's a good guy. He's a family man."
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Jeez, it's the bank that should be in trouble for this, not this guy...though it doesn't sound like he had the most fun you can have with $5 million...colonic enema? Hmmm.
awesome
Odd, I mean they told him it was his!
"colonic enemas and other extravagances"
If I "came into" 5mm dollars, cleaning out my ass would be the first thing I would do too.
"his wife told the Daily News, "He's a good guy. He's a family man."
Right, but what did the mistress have to say?
How do you blow $2,000,000 in two months?! And more importantly, how many colonic enemas does that buy?
Who would have though ODB/Big Baby Jesus was such a good samaritan between bong hits! RIP ODB.
But I agree that he has committed a crime, even if the bank should be penalized for this incident as well. The bank could have alerted Woodlawn in the first place.
Regardless of what some bank employee may have told him, this guy knew that he was stealing and that the money wasn't his.
GUILTY!
It reminds me of people who win the lottery that go bankrupt. Very bizarre.
The real question is why did he hang around here? He should have moved that money off shore, got on the next plane to St Kitts, and started enjoying life. As fun as it would be to find a few million in your bank account one day, you know sooner or later someone is going to come looking for you.
as usual the banks gets its way, no harm no foul.
this guy is an idiot...clearly the money wasn't his
If a bank told me that I had another account with $5.8 million, I'd probably go on a crazy spending spree. But it's possible that my bank would ask me if I was at all affiliated with the company that actually held the money.
Also - did Woodlawn not realize that their Benjamin Lovell was never put on the account until after the money was gone?
Operation Lucky Bank?
something is fishy with woodlawn, audit them.
Bank at fault.
In his defense, Lovell should cite that Monopoly card that says "Bank Error in Your Favor." You get to keep THAT money.
"they" told him? is "that" on paper?
This should probably be filed under Be Careful Waht You Wish For! My mother was always worried whenever her bank was over crediting her. She once paid them a visit because she wasn't being charged for ATM transactions. I didn't inherit that gene, I would have taken the money and ran.
This should probably be filed under Be Careful Waht You Wish For! My mother was always worried whenever her bank was over crediting her. She once paid them a visit because she wasn't being charged for ATM transactions. I didn't inherit that gene, I would have taken the money and ran.
The Bank is at fault. So is this guy. It was going to catch up to him SOMEHOW. It wasn't like it was a mysterious trust fund set up for him by some anonymous do-gooder. He stole money with help from the bank.
What a dumbass.
he may be a dumbass, kearnj, but at least it's a clean ass.
my favorite part is that he spent part of the money on failed investments. how ironic!
bank is at fault, cant blame the guy for having fun(well not in my book), he should of ran!!!
The bank made a mistake, yes, and could be civilly liable.
However, the guy is in deep crap. If it had been a small amount of money he'd be able to argue that he really thought it was his. But no reasonable person would think that the money was actually intended for him, he even admits he knew it wasn't his. So he admits to spending money he knew wasn't his.
With a bank, the money has to come from somewhere - it's not the bank producing the money. That money was intended for someone else, it was literally someone elses money. The guy knew the bank messed up, and went off spent another person's money.
A bank isn't really the ultimate arbiter of who owns money. They're basically a middle man. Just because a bank says "that money is yours!" doesn't mean you are free to spend it. If it's obviously a mistake, like it is in this case, you can get in deep trouble for trying to use that money.
If you know the money is not yours, don't touch it regardless of what the bank says.
Commerce bank makes a big mistake. Then Lovell informs them of the mistake and the bank still insists that, it is his money. I'm sorry, I don't see the criminal intent. When Lovell said the money wasn't his, that should have immediately prompted action by the bank to find the rightful owner. Why would Lovell lie to the bank and say the 5 million wasn't his? This has to be the dumbest bank manager ever.
It is unfair for an individual to be punished for an error that was not caused by him.