A bank mistakenly put $120,000 into a couple's account. They spent it, police say

[BleedGopher]

per CNN:

A Pennsylvania couple is facing felony theft charges after their bank accidentally put $120,000 in their account, and the couple spent most of it instead of contacting the bank, police said.

Robert and Tiffany Williams of Montoursville are also facing overdraft fees from the bank of about $107,000, according to the criminal complaint filed in the Lycoming County magisterial district court.

In an interview with law enforcement, Tiffany Williams said the money was spent on an SUV, a camper, two four wheelers and a car trailer, among other things, according to an affidavit.

The bank error occurred May 31 when a customer in Georgia made a deposit of $120,000, and the BB&T Bank teller entered a wrong account number. When the customer contacted the bank to ask about the missing deposit, investigators discovered the funds had gone into the Williams' joint account, the affidavit said.

"While we can't comment on the specifics of this issue due to client privacy practices, we always work as quickly as possible to address any issue that affects our clients," Brian Davis, a spokesman for BB&T, told CNN in a statement.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/09/us/bank-deposit-error-couple-spending-spree-trnd/index.html

Go Gophers!!

 

[GoodasGold]

All Good, solid appreciating assets.

 

[Section2]

'Bank error in your favor' is now a felony?

 

[Nokomis]

per CNN:

A Pennsylvania couple is facing felony theft charges after their bank accidentally put $120,000 in their account, and the couple spent most of it instead of contacting the bank, police said.

Robert and Tiffany Williams of Montoursville are also facing overdraft fees from the bank of about $107,000, according to the criminal complaint filed in the Lycoming County magisterial district court.

In an interview with law enforcement, Tiffany Williams said the money was spent on an SUV, a camper, two four wheelers and a car trailer, among other things, according to an affidavit.

The bank error occurred May 31 when a customer in Georgia made a deposit of $120,000, and the BB&T Bank teller entered a wrong account number. When the customer contacted the bank to ask about the missing deposit, investigators discovered the funds had gone into the Williams' joint account, the affidavit said.

"While we can't comment on the specifics of this issue due to client privacy practices, we always work as quickly as possible to address any issue that affects our clients," Brian Davis, a spokesman for BB&T, told CNN in a statement.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/09/us/bank-deposit-error-couple-spending-spree-trnd/index.html

Go Gophers!!

That can't be right. They must mean overdraft charges. No wonder people think CNN is loose with the facts.

 

[GophersInIowa]

'Bank error in your favor' is now a felony?

Spending it when you know it doesn't belong to you is.

 

[bottlebass]

'Bank error in your favor' is now a felony?

Spending it when you know it doesn't belong to you is.

How is it any different than finding a $20 bill on the street? It's the banks error, they should have to live with it.

 

[GopherJake]

How is it any different than finding a $20 bill on the street? It's the banks error, they should have to live with it.

Guessing there is some fine print in the paperwork you sign. Also common sense.

 

[bottlebass]

Guessing there is some fine print in the paperwork you sign. Also common sense.

Common sense says if I find money I'm going to spend it.

I'm sure you have a point with the fine print thing.

 

[tikited]

How is it any different than finding a $20 bill on the street? It's the banks error, they should have to live with it.

TCF once made a mistake with my account while I was in high school. It was for a little over $400. Without hesitation I closed my account and took my money out (it wasn't much more than the $400). I didn't do anything for a couple of weeks before the bank called my house and talked to my parents. The $400 was returned. I learned a valuable lesson from the whole thing. Never give your real phone number to a bank.

 

[Section2]

Spending it when you know it doesn't belong to you is.

That was a Monopoly joke.

 

[KGF]

How is it any different than finding a $20 bill on the street? It's the banks error, they should have to live with it.

If you saw a guy drop a $20 bill, knowing who it was, you’d pocket it?

How atheist of you.

 

[bottlebass]

If you saw a guy drop a $20 bill, knowing who it was, you’d pocket it?

How atheist of you.

Nope didn't say that. But if I saw you drop one I'd probably pocket it.

 

[KGF]

Nope didn't say that. But if I saw you drop one I'd probably pocket it.

I assume you know what bank you do you’re banking at. It’s not like finding a stray $20 bill.

 

[bottlebass]

I assume you know what bank you do you’re banking at. It’s not like finding a stray $20 bill.

How do you know the bank made the error and someone else didn't?

 

[KGF]

How do you know the bank made the error and someone else didn't?

The bank could figure it out and return it to it’s rightful owner. Unless you didn’t try.

 

[bottlebass]

The bank could figure it out and return it to it’s rightful owner. Unless you didn’t try.

That's not the point. Screw the bank, they dropped the money on the ground and lost it. They should have to deal with that.

 

[howeda7]

How is it any different than finding a $20 bill on the street? It's the banks error, they should have to live with it.

Not the same thing at all. That money had a clear rightful owner.

 

[bottlebass]

Not the same thing at all. That money had a clear rightful owner.

For the people with a bank account that it got put into it was as clear as finding $20 on the ground who the owners were. The bank doesn't own the money.

 

[dpodoll68]

TCF once made a mistake with my account while I was in high school. It was for a little over $400. Without hesitation I closed my account and took my money out (it wasn't much more than the $400). I didn't do anything for a couple of weeks before the bank called my house and talked to my parents. The $400 was returned. I learned a valuable lesson from the whole thing. Never give your real phone number to a bank.

When I first enrolled at the U, I opened a TCF account with a $200 check my brother had written out to me for money he owed me. Of course, the check bounced, TCF closed my account, and banned me from opening an account there ever again - for my brother's bad check! That's how I ended up banking at the U of M credit union (which used to be housed in McNamara, if anyone remembers) for the remainder of my undergraduate career.

 

[GoodasGold]

When I first enrolled at the U, I opened a TCF account with a $200 check my brother had written out to me for money he owed me. Of course, the check bounced, TCF closed my account, and banned me from opening an account there ever again - for my brother's bad check! That's how I ended up banking at the U of M credit union (which used to be housed in McNamara, if anyone remembers) for the remainder of my undergraduate career.

How do u feel about patronizing TCF stadium

 

[dpodoll68]

How do u feel about patronizing TCF stadium

Not great, since you asked. The U drastically undersold a valuable and rare commodity (naming rights to the first new on-campus football stadium in the Big Ten since the 1960s) to a terrible corporation for a long term. It sucks, but of course it's not going to stop me from following the Gophers or going to games.

 

[tikited]

When I first enrolled at the U, I opened a TCF account with a $200 check my brother had written out to me for money he owed me. Of course, the check bounced, TCF closed my account, and banned me from opening an account there ever again - for my brother's bad check! That's how I ended up banking at the U of M credit union (which used to be housed in McNamara, if anyone remembers) for the remainder of my undergraduate career.

Similar thing happened to a college roommate with TCF. A banking error caused a bunch of overdrafts. He was told that they could only overturn half of them since he should have noticed the error before he did. It wasn't his fault, but he wasn't skilled enough in the art of arguing, so he just accepted it. TCF is horrible.

 

[GophersInIowa]

How is it any different than finding a $20 bill on the street? It's the banks error, they should have to live with it.

So if the mailman accidentally delivers a $1K TV to your home instead of the neighbors, it's fine for you to just keep it?

 

[GophersInIowa]

When I first enrolled at the U, I opened a TCF account with a $200 check my brother had written out to me for money he owed me. Of course, the check bounced, TCF closed my account, and banned me from opening an account there ever again - for my brother's bad check! That's how I ended up banking at the U of M credit union (which used to be housed in McNamara, if anyone remembers) for the remainder of my undergraduate career.

I've worked in the financial industry and can tell you a lot of fraud occurs from new accounts. I imagine it would have been different if you had been a customer for awhile and that happened. There are people out there that go around with fake IDs opening accounts with bad checks, then try to use the funds before the check is returned. In your case it wasn't your fault but I can see why a bank wouldn't want to take a chance. There's so much fraud now days it's ridiculous.

 

[Section2]

I've worked in the financial industry and can tell you a lot of fraud occurs from new accounts. I imagine it would have been different if you had been a customer for awhile and that happened. There are people out there that go around with fake IDs opening accounts with bad checks, then try to use the funds before the check is returned. In your case it wasn't your fault but I can see why a bank wouldn't want to take a chance. There's so much fraud now days it's ridiculous.

Especially since it was a relative. Doubly suspicious.

 

[saintpaulguy]

That was a Monopoly joke.

 

[Section2]

View attachment 6293

THANK you. Now a felony. That's what you get when banks write the laws I guess

 

[bottlebass]

So if the mailman accidentally delivers a $1K TV to your home instead of the neighbors, it's fine for you to just keep it?

Is the package addressed to you or your neighbor? This isn't even close to a good example, the TV would obviously have the neighbors address on it and you would know who it belonged to. Maybe you meant to say if one day when I got home after work there was a $1k TV in an unmarked package on my front porch with no name, no receipt, no indication of how it got there. That would be a better example. I would open that box and mount that sh!t on my wall.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Is the package addressed to you or your neighbor? This isn't even close to a good example, the TV would obviously have the neighbors address on it and you would know who it belonged to. Maybe you meant to say if one day when I got home after work there was a $1k TV in an unmarked package on my front porch with no name, no receipt, no indication of how it got there. That would be a better example. I would open that box and mount that sh!t on my wall.

The story doesn't say but I assumed this was a check since it was $120K and not cash that was deposited. If it was a check, they could have figured out who's it was similar to a package being delivered to the wrong address. Cash would be different obviously.

If a TV just randomly showed up on my front step, I think most people would still ask around to their neighbors before just keeping it.

 

[Winnipegopher]

The story doesn't say but I assumed this was a check since it was $120K and not cash that was deposited. If it was a check, they could have figured out who's it was similar to a package being delivered to the wrong address. Cash would be different obviously.

If a TV just randomly showed up on my front step, I think most people would still ask around to their neighbors before just keeping it.

One day a gas bbq just showed up behind my house. I called the police and it turned out it had been stolen from down the street. Not sure of these analogies.