This story is going viral as originally reported by KOB.
What would you do if the bank made an error and deposited an extra $42,570 into your account? A generation or two ago most people would have reported the discrepancy, the bank would have been thankful and it would be resolved in a fairly short order.
Today, that has proven not to be the case. A man in Roswell couldn’t believe his eyes when he recently deposited a check for $430 at his local Washington Federal branch, but saw his statement credited him with $43,000.
Corey Courts makes $24,000 a year. When the ATM he used to deposit his paycheck of $430.00 erroneously credited his account with $43,000 Courts did report the error to a bank teller who told him to wait on the bank. But, he says, temptation is a powerful thing.
“I mean I don’t even make that much in two years,” said Courts. “It was real nerve wracking but in a way it was kind of like a blessing out of the blue too because I’ve never had that kind of money to be able to buy things for my family and do things like that around the holidays.”
It was the holidays that pushed him over the edge and he started spending the money in earnest.
“I was able to actually buy things for my fiancé and for my daughter, you know things without having to borrow money or just kind of get by,” said Courts. “It was actually a nice Christmas being able to do things.” He even paid off his debt, including student loans. He spent it all and even over-drafted his account.
Courts blames the bank. “It’s their mess up, it was an expensive mistake on their part, they put the money in my account. I sat there, I didn’t touch the money for months and they never found it, they never corrected it, they never did anything,” said Courts. “I mean you would think an amount like that would be something they would be right on top of.”
Roswell police say they have closed the investigation and are not pressing charges. It’s now up to the bank, Washington Federal, to sue in civil court to get the money back.
According to the police report filed by Washington Federal, Courts owes the bank $39,000.
“All I can say is have someone put $43,000 in your account and see what you do,” said Courts. Courts is now making payments to the bank.
