A couple from Baton Rouge, Louisiana was shocked to find $50 billion mistakenly deposited into their bank account.
Darren James told local news that he recently received a bizarre call from his wife, during which she told him to sit down before informing him that the huge sum of money had been transferred into their bank account. James immediately called the bank to report the incident and find out why the funds had been deposited.
“It was crazy just to see what it looks like because I’ve never seen that many zeros in my life,” he said, according to BR Proud.
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“I wasn’t going to keep it. The thing that was most baffling was, we don’t even know where it came from. We don’t know anybody with that kind of money.”
The bank began its process of correcting the error, but did not disclose why the $50 billion had been deposited or where it came from. Within days, the money had disappeared from the James’ account. The family showed the outlet a screenshot of the enormous error.
“It was a hold placed on it. It showed up on Saturday to make a deposit for our daughter. It stayed there Sunday, Monday and Tuesday it was gone,” James said. “There’s enough greatness in this world where we can all have a life we never thought was possible so if I did have $50 billion, I would bless others.”
Recipients of erroneous bank deposits are not entitled to keep the money. In most instances, the financial institution will spot the error and reverse the transaction. Those who spend the money can find themselves facing criminal charges, and while specific charges vary by state, generally such cases would be considered as theft of property lost by mistake and receiving stolen property.