If you accidentally overpaid a bill, as soon as you realized the mistake, you would most likely contact the company or individual and request either a refund or a credit on your account. For example, if you added an extra zero to your utility bill or mortgage payment, you might either want the extra money back or applied towards future payments. Either way, you wouldn’t want to simply let the company keep the extra money. The same goes the other way around.
Charles Schwab & Co accidentally paid a 33-year-old Louisiana resident over a million dollars more than they owed her. It all started when Kelyn Spadoni wanted to close a bank account that contained less than $100. The bank was supposed to transfer the remaining balance of $82.56 to her account, but instead, due to an accounting error, Charles Schwab & Co accidentally transferred $1.2 million to her account.
Charles Schwab & Co quickly realized the error, but they were unable to stop the transfer. The next day, when the company was finally able to request a transfer of the money back, they received a “cash not available” error. Spadoni had already moved the money to another account.
Spadoni ignored calls, texts and emails from Charles Schwab & Co employees. Meanwhile, she used the money to buy a house and a Hyundai Genesis.
Detectives ended up arresting Spadoni and charging her with theft, bank fraud and illegal transmission of monetary funds. She also lost her job as a 911 dispatcher, and Charles Schwab & Co is suing her.
The lawsuit filed by Charles Schwab & Co states, “By her conduct, Spadoni has made it clear she does not intend to return the mistakenly transferred funds to Schwab.”
According to Charles Schwab & Co attorneys, Spadoni signed a contract when she opened her account where she agreed to return any overpayment of funds.
Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Capt. Jason Rivarde explained, “She has no legal claim to that money, even if it was put in there by mistake. It was an accounting error.”
Charles Schwab and Co has reclaimed about 75% of the funds.
Let this be a lesson to us all. If you ever receive more money than you are owed, do not think of it as a gift. Instead, be ready and willing to give the money back right away.
