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It’s irrelevant, because they knew it wasn’t theirs. When they took it from the account and converted to their own uses, that usually meets the legal definition of stealing it.
This is all armchair lawyering. We’ll see how it goes, but I’m pretty confident they’ll either be found guilty or make some plea where they agree to restitution.
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HOW does one withdraw 120k (or 10 million) and stash it, untraceably?
Yes and no. If money shows up that you know isn’t yours, you can’t keep it. If someone parks a car in your driveway that isn’t yours, you can’t keep it. (You can have it towed away in many places, but you can’t start using it to commute to work.)
Everyone hates banks, but this is how it should work. If someone inadvertently transferred a paycheck to the wrong account, none of us want to hear that it was an unintentional error and so it’s totally okay that whoever got our money already spent it. They’d remove it from that account and put it where it belongs.
Beyond the statutes, this is all in the agreement for the checking/savings accounts as well.
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It’s too bad you need to declare more than 10k when exiting the country, because that plus middle aged savings rapidly withdrawn in cash would provide a very nice life in many places.
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I think it’s valid to say after a reasonably long time, like a month to a year max, that you are not obligated to perform annual bookkeeping on a debt you did not consent to. (Hence the idea of the year being max, just because I dunno… tax year? Guess what - we make up most laws)
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Inflation has hit the price of freedom very hard.
Of course, if you are Jerry Seinfeld and are loaded with FU money, well then…
if you hand someone a $10 bill, you’ve effectively transferred ownership of that money to them, if you park at their house you aren’t giving them your car. that’s how money works different than driveways.
This is more like someone parking a car in your driveway, signing over the papers to you, giving you the keys and letting you drive around. Then since you owned it you sold it, and oh no it was a mistake, oro, the original giver gave it to the wrong person.
Which statutes? For which bank is this baked into the contract? IF it is law it wouldn’t need to be baked into the contract, and it wouldn’t need to be either if it was already considered stealing. A breach of contract or the violation of a statute or theft are very different things, these aren’t interchangeable notions.
Not really, most types of transfers are irreversible. All wire transfers, interac transfers, bank to bank transfers, state all over the place that they are non-reversible, to use caution, etc. other banks in other countries and regions are under different regulations and laws. if it is your error, i guarantee in many cases you are flat out of your money, and banks are specifically insured for many of these exact types of issues when it is their error, which they wouldn’t be if this wasn’t an issue/problem. There is a reason almost all transfers have holding periods, including check deposits, where you can’t access those funds, this wouldn’t be necessary if this wasn’t the case. once money goes from your account to someone else’s, it is no longer in your control or yours. actual thieves and scammers leverage this fact all the time.
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I don’t think they should be punished for the banks inability to do basic math. My bank double deposited a check and somehow it was my fault? the idiots didn’t stamp the check when I brought it into the bank tellers.
If a stranger walks up to you and gives you $120,000 of their own money, would you be obligated to give it back if they asked?
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Unjust enrichment means when a person unfairly gets a benefit by chance, mistake or another’s misfortune for which the one enriched has not paid or worked and morally and ethically should not keep. A person who has been unjustly enriched at the expense of another must legally return the unfairly kept money or benefits.
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I’m spending most of $120k right now!
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thanks. it was interesting to read up on unjust enrichment. unjust enrichment is part of contract law, and something you have to sue for in order to get court ordered restitutions. so there would be no theft charges or jail time or laws broken or arrests, correct? all this means it is possible to sue in court for restitution of funds to recover them in certain cases within a window of time, in most states. suing isn’t guaranteed, the court would evaluate the case, correct?
maybe they can get a loan from the bank to pay the bank back? 
(most banks interests rates are punishment enough, call it an inadvertent loan.)
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Yes! See their problem was not committing White collar theft!
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My bank covers it as “We may adjust your account for any deposit errors, even if you have already withdrawn all or part of the deposit, though we reserve the right not to do so in every case.” There’s probably more but that’s the first thing I found that would be applicable.
Clearly some transactions are reversible, because that’s how these people ended up $107,000 in the hole.
Here’s a funny story. I loved the account number on my first bank account. Got married and made it a joint account. We got student loans deposited into them like a decade ago. We divorced, I un-joined the account. Ex goes back to college. One morning I get a surprise five figure deposit labeled “tuition refund”… Not the bank’s fault at all. Then my ex out of the blue wants me to send her the money. Hell no, I have no proof it’s yours. Bank, get this money out of my account thanks.
Depends on the context and why the stranger gave you the money, of course.
If they’re an eccentric billionaire who has decided to personally spread the wealth around? Keep it.
If they mistook you for someone they owe 120k to, and gave it to you in good faith, only to discover their error later? Give it back.
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I had a bank screw up signing mortgage documents on time that ended up costing me $800 to renegotiate a house purchase. Lawyer told me yeah, you can sue the bank, but good luck with that. So screw 'em, I hope the couple walks free.
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No, the law does not say that. The law DOES say that if you find something that does not belong to you, you do not own it. If you find a bag of money on the street, it is not yours. The law basically says, “In a property dispute (whether real or personal), in the absence of clear and compelling testimony or documentation to the contrary, the person in actual, custodial possession of the property is presumed to be the rightful owner. The rightful owner shall have their possession returned to them; if taken or used. The shirt or blouse you are currently wearing is presumed to be yours, unless someone can prove that it is not.”
