It was a tax refund for the intended recipient? Damn! Who gets a $110,000 tax refund?

This guy is a huge fark up, but why the hell would a bank simply reassign the number of a closed account to another customer? It seems like this would invite all sorts of calamity.

Okay, let's see....IRS makes a mistake. The recipient, instead of complaining to the IRS directly, decides to find out the person who has her old account number and then harasses him to give her the money.

Here's an idea: call the IRS and tell them about the mistake. Then go from there. Why go to someone and start demanding money?

Commonwealth of Australia, here i come

1. Why does he get charged for theft when he did not take part in the misappropriation.
2. Who the hell gets $110k back from the IRS!? Are drug dealers paying taxes?
3. He sounded very reasonable with what he did with it. Paid off student loans, mortgage and car payments. He even offered a method of repayment.
4. Who the hell gets $110k back from the IRS!?

$110,000 theft? He sounds white.

RandomExcess: $110,000 theft? He sounds white.



Like a sheet.

FeelsBadMan:
It's not your money. You're not automatically entitled to it.

i see what you did there

Bank error in your favor. Go directly to jail.

Britney Spear's Speculum

Curses!

News reporter interview with the guy link (some NSFW language)

How are they going to prove theft without intent?

So she can add four years to the government's debt but we pay interest and penalties when we make mistakes.

The IRS should immediately make her whole and then recoup the damages from their mistakes. Could the IRS and bank make sure the recipient name at least remotely matches the account number, or would that create undue hardship (probably)?

He should have reported the money, no one stumbles on that much money and just thinks it's okay to keep. That said, he spent the money on student loans and his mortgage... I hope the court cuts him some slack.

I call bullshiat.

This IRS is infallible - just ask them.

If they say you ow money - YOU OWE MONEY.

The reverse must be true as well.

Suck it, little old lady.

Finders' keepers, losers' weepers...

This is really sad, like a John Steinbeck novel.

I wonder what happens if your account is overdrawn by a very large amount, and then an error like this results in a bunch of money being deposited into your account. The money would automatically be with withdrawn to pay off your balance. Who would the IRS destroy?

He should have had more fun with the money.

I may be drunk, but if they made the mistake of depositing it in the wrong account they should allow him to keep it. I didn't read the article so unless he intentionally scammed the system its the government fault for making the mistake and they should live with it

Of course not.

Stick it in a high-yield CD, sit on it as long as possible, then drag your feet every which way, stalling for time when they demand you return it, pocket the interest---------profit.

Simple?

culebra: This guy is a huge fark up, but why the hell would a bank simply reassign the number of a closed account to another customer? It seems like this would invite all sorts of calamity.

Listening to the video report it says the woman gave a wrong account number to the IRS on the direct deposit information.

gamepolice: I may be drunk, but if they made the mistake of depositing it in the wrong account they should allow him to keep it. I didn't read the article so unless he intentionally scammed the system its the government fault for making the mistake and they should live with it

Maybe, I dunno, read it?

Rohasman: How are they going to prove theft without intent?

It's tax stuff, my GED in Tax Law tells me that they have their own judicial system and a presumption of guilt rather than innocence in these cases. Consider audits, where the burden is on you to prove you did not make a mistake.

Even common errors on a tax form can subject you to criminal penalties, no intent necessary.

I was on a training call dealing with electronic life insurance applications. One of the brokerage firms present said that 70% of all paper applications need at least a dozen revisions due to erroneous or missing information-- stuff that the agent should catch. Agents often fill out at least one application a week with clients. People who fill out financial paperwork for a living can't get it right much of the time.

Most people fill out tax forms once a year, and the forms often are slightly different each time. How many honest mistakes do you think are made? And every one of them can be subject to criminal penalties at the discretion of the IRS.

The system is messed up with way too many failure points, and this article illustrates another such failure point. We would be so much better off by switching to a progressive sales tax collected by all sellers of goods, which would provide far fewer failure points and thus inadvertent exposure to prosecution.

/yeah it's one of those drums I beat regularly
//but I don't wanna work
///I just wanna bang on my drum all day

gamepolice: I may be drunk, but if they made the mistake of depositing it in the wrong account they should allow him to keep it. I didn't read the article so unless he intentionally scammed the system its the government fault for making the mistake and they should live with it

This. Finder's keepers losers weepers is sound legal strategy.

how exactly did the 'victim' who lost their $110k figure out who was the windfall recipient was and personally call him to demand her money back? it sounds like she as well as the bank likely violated several privacy laws in this process. The 'victim' also tried to enforce vigilante justice by personally contacting the recipient of the refund and demanding money instead of going through the proper court channels. Mr. McDow will likely end up getting twice that amount he mistakenly received due to a settlement with the bank related to violation of federal privacy laws. Also, the 'victim' should have double checked her tax returns and verified the account to receive the refund was indeed correct before it was submitted. Both parties are at fault here, but i hate for only one side to be held responsible.

That's the IRS for you;

You make a mistake, they f*ck you in the ass.

They make a mistake, you get f*cked in the ass.

olddinosaur: Stick it in a high-yield CD,

Do those exist anymore?

eljasbo: how exactly did the 'victim' who lost their $110k figure out who was the windfall recipient was and personally call him to demand her money back? it sounds like she as well as the bank likely violated several privacy laws in this process. The 'victim' also tried to enforce vigilante justice by personally contacting the recipient of the refund and demanding money instead of going through the proper court channels. Mr. McDow will likely end up getting twice that amount he mistakenly received due to a settlement with the bank related to violation of federal privacy laws. Also, the 'victim' should have double checked her tax returns and verified the account to receive the refund was indeed correct before it was submitted. Both parties are at fault here, but i hate for only one side to be held responsible.

most of the stories you read about this leave the intended recipient sol. i think there's even some kind of disclaimer when you are filling in your direct deposit account info on the tax form about this.

/on the other hand, i know nothing about taxes and im a little drunk...

Wouldn't you close the account? I would, come find me. But actually i hear there is a process ppl are supposed to follow with lost property under law.

Am I the only person who thinks the anchorwoman looks like Michael Jackson with a boob job?

This gentleman is not the worst person in the world, however he obviously knew the money was not his and yet spent some of it anyway. That being said, a person in dire straits (house in foreclosure) is bound to resort to desperate measures. While I hope he does pay for his crime, part of me hopes the court is lenient with him.

FeelsBadMan: Good.

It's not your money. You're not automatically entitled to it.

Go easy on the IRS, they're not the victim here.

look on the bright side: He paid his house off, so at least he'll have a place to go home to when he gets out.

gamepolice: I may be drunk, but if they made the mistake of depositing it in the wrong account they should allow him to keep it. I didn't read the article so unless he intentionally scammed the system its the government fault for making the mistake and they should live with it

I'm in a business where this happens all the time. Typically we do require a voided check for all direct deposits, but sometimes on savings deposits they are allowed to write down there information. A couple times a year a typo goes to somebody elses account. Usually it is less than $3000 or so, but in virtually all instances the person doesn't report and it is usually discovered anywhere from a month to a year afterwards. In every single instance that I'm aware the Bank froze the account until the person paid up. We haven't had somebody close an account down and run for dodge city, but if that were to happen we would have to pursue legal action.

at least he did something reasonably responsible with it...he did pay off student loans and his mortgage.

And the IRS will nail him if he does not report the money on his next tax return.

US Government agencies operate on the Napoleonic Code. You are guilty until you can prove otherwise is a government court of law.

Hey has anyone mentioned that he paid off his student loans and his mortgage with the money?

Because that's what he did.

Farker T: I call bullshiat.

This IRS is infallible - just ask them.

If they say you ow money - YOU OWE MONEY.

The reverse must be true as well.

Suck it, little old lady.

Having had experience with the IRS I will say don't ever, ever fark with them. I owe enough money to them that I'll be paying it off for the next 10 years, but as far as throwing someone in jail-they generally don't do it. Make no mistake they can place a lien on your property, make it impossible to get a drivers license and flag you for all kinds of shiat, but in jail is nothing that was ever brought up in my discussions with them.

/yay garnishment and monthly payments on 10 bux an hour
//ok, since I owed it to them (my deceased moms estate and I didn't bother to get a lawyer so screwed up royally)
///I owe a wee bit less than this cat and the IRS has frankly told me they'd rather have me working than in a prison for larceny as at least this way they're getting they're moolah
////I would have rather gone to prison so that I could feed and clothe myself a year ago when it came up as I was broke but the damned IRS just wouldn't arrest me. life sucks at times, le sigh

chu2dogg: gamepolice: I may be drunk, but if they made the mistake of depositing it in the wrong account they should allow him to keep it. I didn't read the article so unless he intentionally scammed the system its the government fault for making the mistake and they should live with it

I'm in a business where this happens all the time. Typically we do require a voided check for all direct deposits, but sometimes on savings deposits they are allowed to write down there information. A couple times a year a typo goes to somebody elses account. Usually it is less than $3000 or so, but in virtually all instances the person doesn't report and it is usually discovered anywhere from a month to a year afterwards. In every single instance that I'm aware the Bank froze the account until the person paid up. We haven't had somebody close an account down and run for dodge city, but if that were to happen we would have to pursue legal action.

Less than 3000 is the world to someone living paycheck to paycheck. Is it the person owed the money who doesn't report? or the person who did receive the money who doesn't report the error? I'm sorry virtually every customer at your bank is greedy and dishonest -- or so farking inept and comfortable they can let an error of less than 3000 go for a month to a freaking year before discovering it.

For the rest of y'all: If you're NOT supposed to have that money coming to you, you report it! Jesus Christ, who are all you people in here talking about how you'd keep the money, the money is yours, he should be cut slack because of what he did with the money... no, no, no, no, NO. Y'all know you aren't due that money. Give it the fark back. Don't spend it. Dont' make excuses. Report it. You'd want someone to return your money if an error was made in a direct deposit, and it went to them instead of you, right?

/so mad at humanity right now
//is it really so difficult to do the right thing?

olddinosaur: Stick it in a high-yield CD, sit on it as long as possible, then drag your feet every which way, stalling for time when they demand you return it, pocket the interest---------profit.

I'm a federal employee (so I'm getting a kick etc) -- and payroll overpayments happen quite often (especially to people when they're transferring). Your advice is spot-on for how most federal employees respond to a salary overpayment. An even greater upside is that generally, if/when the payroll schmucks notice that they overpaid somebody, they just dock the employee a "reasonable" amount of pay (AFAIK, about 5% monthly), without interest. So from a personal finance point of view, it's like an interest-free windfall loan.

6655321: And the IRS will nail him if he does not report the money on his next tax return.

... but he'll be able to take the student loan interest deduction!

The guy should demand a refund on the education those student loans covered. He clearly didn't learn anything important, like "you don't get to keep the money when the IRS farks up"

specialkae: ////I would have rather gone to prison so that I could feed and clothe myself a year ago when it came up as I was broke but the damned IRS just wouldn't arrest me. life sucks at times, le sigh

You know, it is really really really easy to get arrested these days. For example, walk up to an officer and start shoving him, and grab at his gun. No one gets hurt (but you) and you won't have to worry about the economy for a couple years., especially if you mouth off at the judge repeatedly. Of course, you may have a wee bit more trouble in the job market afterwards, but you can solve that with quick notes to the prosecutor and to the judge who presided over your first trial about how they are constantly in your thoughts.

I hope this helps for the future!

/this information is presented for entertainment purposes only