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Bank Error Makes Bank Customer
Millionare for a Week
Becoming a millionare (in US
dollars) was easier than ever
imagined for Don Franciso
Barahona, who for a little over
a week he held in his possession
some us$2.8 million dollars due
to a bank error.
Barahona had visited his local
branch of the Banco Nacional to
renew is investment certificate
valued at ˘2.8 million colones
(us$5.800 dollars). However, the
bank employee issued the
certificate in US dollars
instead of colones.
Once the bank discovered their
error, they sent Barahona, a
client of the bank for more than
30 years and former director of
the Universidad para la Paz a
nasty letter demanding the
return of the money or face
legal action.
Barahona promptly responded to
the letter's request but first
asked the bank for an apology
over the "nastiness" of the
letter and told them that he had
had no intention to keep the
money, as he had not been aware
of the mistake until he received
notification.
The certificate had been issued
for the same amount 2.800.000,
however, the $ sign had replaced
the ˘ of the earier certificate,
a change he did not notice.
Another reader told ICR his
story of a mistake at the local
branch of private bank
Scotiabank, when the customer
realized that he was short
changed for about ˘500.000
colones after making a large
withdrawl.
After a call to the bank manager
the following morning he was
told that all the tellers
balanced. Following the
customer's insistence of a bank
error, the bank manager promised
to review the security tape (all
banks have security cameras over
tellers to record all
transactions) the ˘500.000
colones was promptly deposited
into his account and with no
explanations.
The moral of the story is to
always check any bank instrument
or cash before leaving the
teller. Mistakes can and do
happen.
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