Companies make clerical mistakes. This company made a HUGE mistake with a construction worker’s paycheck and it involved one simple decimal point.
Steve Burke was expecting a paycheck of £446.60 ($578) but checked his bank account to find £44,660 ($57,839) deposited instead. The smart thing to do was to report the error to his employer, but if Burke did the smart thing, we wouldn’t be discussing this situation.
Burke, assuming he was the victim of a “cyber crime”, started spending the money as quickly as possible. Ah yes, one of those cyber crimes where criminals GIVE the victims money. So rampant these days.
Prosecutor Katy Varlow told magistrates in Scarborough, North Yorks: “In total, he spent more than £28,000 and approximately £15,000 was recovered.
“He spent the money on a car, an electronic-cigarette, hotel rooms, designer clothes, a gold chain, cocaine and vodka as well as online gambling.”
Burke later received an email from his company alerting him to the mistake. He claimed he “could not remember” when he saw it.
Burke will appear at York Crown Court on July 25 for his sentencing.
[via Mirror]