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« Two Examples of Saving Money by Asking for a Discount | Main | A Reminder: Time is on the Side of Long-term Investors »

January 25, 2008

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You left out the best part...He only got caught because he tried to transfer money from his retirement account (from the Job benefits) to his personal account and the Fidelty (the company in charge of the pensions) sent up a red flag since his start and end dates were the same day. In other words, if the guy had not gotten greedy, the SNAFU would have continued...

DARN! I saw the post title and thought you'd bottled lightning, FMF. Instead you got me thinking about ramifications and "getting sent to prison."

Dan --

"I saw the post title and thought you'd bottled lightning."

I'm sneaky that way. ;-)

This happened to me the first 6 months I was employed. I was essentially getting paid twice the amount I agreed to upon employment. I found out later, that 2 profiles had been set up and I was getting one paper check and a direct deposit.
After payroll found out, it still took 6 months and many phone calls to correct the problem! I was surprised how long it took to correct an error like that! Not a bad problem to have!
I was surprised how many people told me that I shouldn't say anything and take the money and run!

I have a cousin who works for the social security administration. They constantly deal with similar games, but in his case it is a lot more active than what this guy did.

Recipient calls in and says their check did not arrive, so the SSA cuts and sends a new one. Eventually, the system notes the cashing of the recipient's checks both the "lost one" and the replacement and recipient gets called in and essentially get a year interest free loan.

However, my cousin notes they are starting to crack down on the worst offenders.

When in college I knew this one woman who got extra pay from ROTC and she treated it as mad money. Well, the system finally caught up with her too and then she started having her checks docked to make up for the over-payments.

Other people's stupidity and inattention does not give anyone license to be dishonest.

I had a company let me go and kept paying me. Being the honest person I was, I kept calling and telling them every time payday came and I got a deposit. Finally after a few weeks they sent a letter asking for the full amount back. I was honest and sent it back but only after negotiating a portion to be kept due to the 'time spent' on having to continuously notify them (pointing out that I made every effort to correct the mistake), as well as the 'emotional distress' from not being able to close the books on what was a very bad ending.

That's great Michael :)

This post is not that misleading now that I think about it. There are plenty of ways to get paid without working. Lots of people do it in this nation. Many are watching a soap or Judge Somebody right now as I type...

Funny, this topic. If a bank has a rogue charge on your account or if your employer short changes your payroll it's your responsibility to chase this down or you can lose the money due to your negligence. Yet it doesn't work the other way around??? The company surely has some responsibility here to ensure their payroll is accurate.

Granted they have a case to get the money back, however if the money is spent or the person is living South of the Border they may have to settle for nothing to pennies on the dollar. That's just business.

I don't think criminal charges should apply unless the ex-employee was actively cooking up a fraudulent scheme. What he did by keeping silent is clearly not honest but I believe it's unethical vs illegal. Anyone think otherwise?

-Big Cheese.

How does this count as theft? It seems like it's an error by the company. If someone gives you money by accident, I don't see how it can be seen as "theft." It's pure negligence by the company and they should be held responsible.

While this is definitely unethical, I don't see it as theft.

Giving no-bid contracts to a company where you own tens of thousands of shares is more dishonest than encashing paychecks that are being direct-deposited to your account.

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