Couple Who Spent The $120,000 The Bank Mistakenly Deposited In Their Account Face Criminal Charges
One Pennsylvania couple got the shock of their lives when they discovered a $120,000 deposit in their bank account.
Robert Williams and his wife, Tiffany, whose joint bank account balance is typically at about $1,000, wasted no time in putting the money to good use, even if it wasn’t their funds, reports the Williamsport Sun-Gazette.
Not only did the couple withdraw more than $100,000 to pay off bills, but they also put a down payment on a Chevrolet SUV, a camper, a car trailer and a race car.
In what appears to be an attempt to pay their good fortune forward, the couple also gave away $15,000 to friends who needed it, according to court records, the Sun-Gazette reports.
Less than three weeks later, the money was gone, and the couple’s joint bank account was hit with overdraft fees totaling $107,416.
“She no longer had the funds because she had already paid off bills. She told the bank her husband had spent a great portion of the funds and purchased a four-wheeler,” Mrs. Williams said, according to State Trooper Aaron Brown’s statement. “She said she would speak to her husband and attempt to construct a repayment agreement.”
A teller at BB&T bank erroneously deposited the large sum of money into the couple’s account on May 31 instead of its intended recipient, Dimension Covington Investment LLC, the Sun-Gazette reports.
The error was fixed on or before June 20, but by then the couple had already splurged, spending more than $100,000.
Before that, the account held a $1,121 balance, state Trooper Brown said.
After multiple attempts to contact the couple, state police were alerted by the bank of their error in early July.
Investigators reported the 36-year-old man and his 35-year-old wife “admitted to knowing the mislaid money did not belong to them, but they spent it anyway,” the Sun-Gazette reports.
The couple was released Tuesday (September 10) on $25,000 bail each after being hit with felony charges for theft and receiving stolen property.