Man Arrested For Taking Accidental Bank Deposit

Just because a bank makes a mistake doesn't mean you get to benefit: A Long Island man was arrested for refusing to give up the $11,270 accidentally deposited into his Capital One account. Newsday reports that Carlos Morales' account was "mistakenly credited"—which really means "A bank teller had erroneously deposited these funds." Morales withdrew the money over a five-month period and Nassau County's Crimes Against Property Squad said even though Capitol One "contacted the defendant on numerous occasions asking the defendant to return the funds," Morales didn't respond. He is now charged with grand larceny. Also, if the ATM "accidentally" gives you more money than it should, report it and return it or you could faces charges.

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By Jen Chung in News on August 28, 2009 1:35 PM

Comments [rss]

Mr Mel

The best story is still the Swiss Bank depositing multi millions of the Contra Gate money into a strangers account. He gave the money back but kept the interest, which amounted to millions.

JenChungsBaby

Why would the bank ask for the money back? If they were so sure that they put it in his account in error then just take it from the account.

jaycjay

Really, you think he had another 11 grand in the account?

JenChungsBaby

Yup, you're probably right.

JohnTheDesigner

The newest Monopoly game goes:

"Bank error in your favor. Collect $200.

Bank threatens to fail, collects $3 trillion in bail-out from US Govt. CEO leaves bank with $20m severance package to sit on advisory board to Congressional regulatory panel.

US Govt taxes your $200 at 45%, your childrens' income at 45% and your granchildrens' income at 45%.

Your progeny default on their Boardwalk and Atlantic City properties and 'Proceed to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.'

Bank then charges them $200/month for overdraft protection, while lobbying the US govt for another round of TARP because they're too big to fail."

Nyctini11

If it took them 5 months to figure this out, it's there own damn fault. I work in accounting, there are checks and balances that must done weekly, monthly, etc. If they didn't catch this by EOD that day, or at best, month end, it's their fuck up sorry. He withdrew this for a period spanning 5months, they ARE MORONS.

just saying

Exactly.

"if the ATM 'accidentally' gives you more money than it should, report it and return it or you could faces charges."

And the reverse should also be true. Almost a year ago I tried to make an ATM withdrawal from the HSBC located on 5th Ave. @40th St. (the U.S. headquarters no less!). No money came out, but the ATM receipt showed that the money had been withdrawn from my checking account. It took almost a month (and numerous phones and visits to HSBC customer service) before HSBC resolved this and finally credited the money back to my acct. The "customer service" at that 5th Ave. HSBC is the absolute worst. That woman was completely incompetent.

grandzu

Its incredulous that police enforce private businesses' interests and prevent losses even due to its own actions.

But if a business rips off a consumer, and you cannot call the police. They will immediately tell you its not their job or jurisdiction and to take it to court.

FunChop

The police, or "selective law enforcement officers" as they should be called, work for business interests, not citizens.

The heirarchy works one way - anything that a business does that harms us is fine and rarely carries any legal punishement, even if they're killing us. Any harm we (citizens) do to them is immediately punished and usually pretty harshly. The punishement rarely fits the crime as the real message is to "sit down, shut up, and leave the monied class alone"

jaycjay

"Also, if the ATM "accidentally" gives you more money than it should, report it and return it or you could faces charges."

That's not what the linked story says. It says that the machine was purposely tampered with, and the people who did that will face charges if caught. It doesn't say that about people who unknowingly received too much money, it just says they're being asked to return it.

From that article:

They are looking to prosecute the people responsible for tampering with the machine.

Those found responsible could face two felonies: tampering with property and theft.

Deputies say they would be responsible for all extra $7,000 taken from the machine.

Spirit of 76

I'm guessing that's why Jen put "accidentally" between quotation marks.

Kojak

What ever happened to 'Bank Error in your Favor; Collect $200' like they have in Monopoly?

I truly believe that if a bank makes an error of an acceptable amount, they should let it go. How dare they deposit $1,000,000 into my checking account and take it back.

jaycjay

You have an old Monopoly game. In the current version, that card reads: "Bank error in your favor. Proceed directly to jail. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200."

NannyState

The teller that made the error probably lost his or her job. This isn't victimless and Morales is a fool for thinking he could just spend the money. On the other hand, if no one ever notices and the money stays in your account for a good while, then you might stand a chance...

barryap

So then if they make an error that costs you money, should you just let that go too?

Bort

BUllSHIT!

Finders keepers, dudes!

schadenfreudian mensch

$11,270 is not worth going to the slammer unless of course the bank tells you that you have $5 million even though you tell them otherwise they still insist then it's okay to spend as much as possible.

http://gothamist.com/2008/02/24/man_whose_bank.php