Bank Accidentally Gives Man $5 Million then charge him with larceny

[flashl]

NEW YORK -- A man was charged with withdrawing $2 million from an account after a bank confused him with a man who has the same name.

Benjamin Lovell was arraigned Tuesday on grand larceny charges. The 48-year-old salesman said he tried to tell officials at Commerce Bank in December that he did not have a $5 million account. He says he was told it was his and he could withdraw the money.

Prosecutors said the bank _ which advertises itself as America's Most Convenient Bank _ confused Lovell with a Benjamin Lovell who works for a property management company.

The lesser-funded Lovell gave away some of the withdrawn money and blew some of it on gifts, but lost much of it on bad investments, prosecutors said.

Washington Post

[dysfunctional press]

1. the Commerce Bank...?

the drysdales aren't going to be too happy about that...

[Lance_Boyle]

2. good lord - if you know the money isn't yours, but you take it and spend it

I'd say there's a pretty good larceny case against you. Dumbass.

[Richard Steele]

5. Yup. That was pretty stupid.

Common sense should have told him that SOMEONE
was gonna rectify a $5 million mistake sooner or later.

[Fleshdancer]

6. but if you tell the bank it's not yours and they tell you it is, then...

you shouldn't be charged with larceny. How many times must the consumer contest the bank's mistake? At what point should the bank be liable for the loss?

[Lance_Boyle]

8. if you know it's not yours, don't spend it.

doesn't matter at all what the bank says. This chump stole $2 million, and is rightfully busted for it.

BTW - the customer is responsible for balancing his books, not the bank.

[Fleshdancer]

9. if this happened to me, I wouldn't. I'm just trying to figure out....

why the bank should be able to sue this person after they made the mistake and after they chose to ignore the mistake.

[malaise]

22. Really now

"The 48-year-old salesman said he tried to tell officials at Commerce Bank in December that he did not have a $5 million account. He says he was told it was his and he could withdraw the money."

[Generic Brad]

29. The IRS does not share your sentiments either

If it's not yours, don't spend it. Someone will eventually come for it.

[Fleshdancer]

31. like I said up thread, this is not my sentiment

if it happened to me, there's no way in hell I would spend the money.

I'm just wondering when or if the bank pays for their mistake and their initial refusal to admit their mistake when the customer brought up the issue. He's getting sued even when he brought this to their attention to begin with.

[Mike Daniels]

11. Yep, just because the bank had their records crossed doesn't give one free-reign

to spend money that they definitely know isn't their's.

[ORDagnabbit]

idiots....thats when you withdraw it all and migrate to another country asap.

[Gold Metal Flake]

19. Standard Operating procedure.

RTFM. Sheesh.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Bank "accidentally" gives a customer $5 Million?

Who made out the deposit slip? Who asked for the money? My bank doesn't force money on me when I walk in.

[MissB]

4. Bwahahahaha

Too funny. Sorry, it wasn't his to spend or give away or invest.

Still, very funny.

[coalition_unwilling]

7. It's kind of cool that he gave some of it away, though. -n/t

Maybe his defense attorneys can get some of the recipients of his largesse to testify on his behalf. Played correctly, the jury might just let him walk.

[LisaL]

33. I don't know how cool it is, considering it wasn't his to give away.

Don't give others money that are not your own.

[slackmaster]

10. All he has to do is tell the press "I thought it was a gift from God!"

They'll back off.

[gollygee]

12. Oh, good call!

"But I'd been praying for $5 million extra to be in my bank account. It seemed like that was the most obvious reason for it to be there, given that I'd been praying so much!"

[slackmaster]

13. That's what happened at a bank I worked for in the '80s

A teller accidentally deposited $675,000 in a checking account that was chronically overdrawn.

The couple who owned the account spent most of the money, and claimed they thought it was a gift from God.

The bank ate about $400K. We closed the account, but the couple was never charged with a crime.

[gollygee]

15. There isn't actually any way to prove it wasn't a gift from God anyway

Maybe God wanted this guy to have $5 million and therefore caused someone to make a mistake and put the money in his account? Maybe God wanted to redistribute some of the bank's wealth?

[varkam]

16. Something tells me that teller was fired...

just guessing :D

[slackmaster]

17. Actually, she wasn't fired

The bank changed the teller system client software for a shortcut key (called the Dupe key) that allowed tellers and others to plug in the last value that was entered in a particular field. They disabled Dupe key functionality for the account number.

[varkam]

20. No way!

That's unreal! :rofl: Well, talk about a bad day at the office...

[KansDem]

14. Let's see what the IRS does next year...

Will this guy have to "declare" the $5 million?

[Crunchy Frog]

18. I would have been out of the country with it before they knew what hit them.

I'd be on a beach in South America by now.

[0007]

21. OMFG........I got to get my mind around this story.

It seems he could have withdrew the interest on a daily basis. Then what would be the charge, if he left the money in the bank and didn't touch it?

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

23. Something stinks

"The 48-year-old salesman said he tried to tell officials at Commerce Bank in December that he did not have a $5 million account. He says he was told it was his and he could withdraw the money."

I seriously doubt this part...

[McCamy Taylor]

26. Me too. That sounds wierd.

[dysfunctional press]

28. maybe his atm slip said "available for withdrawal" on it...and he took it at it's word...

:shrug:

[AlertLurker]

24. "America's Most Convenient Bank"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhAHAHAHAHAhAHAHAhA!!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[damntexdem]

25. Most convenient for whom?

We should all know that we can be charged with larceny if we spend money clearly attributed to us by accident. But after trying to correct the error and being told that it was no error, that does seem a bit different. No, one shouldn't rely on that either; but it does seem that the bank should bear some of the responsibility.

[DFW]

27. I would have gotten legeal title confirmation from the bank in writing

And THEN gone on a spending spree. Just saying the bank told him it was
his won't hold up in court. Proving it with a signed letter from a bank
official will. Also, any bank official asked to sign such a letter will
either check out the reason first, or find himself competing for the janitor's
job a week later.

[baldguy]

30. What if it had been the other way around?

Poor Guy's check gets dumped in Rich Guy's account? To Poor Guy, the bank would say "Tough shit! Go fuck yourself!"

[LisaL]

32. Did the guy think money fell from heaven or something?

If I had found out I got a five million $ account, I think would figure out it's not mine (eventually).
LOL.